A Shadowed Life
by Lelu Kitakaze
Summary: Harry reflects on past events in his life. A new revelation and chaos ensues, as Harry's world is turned inside out and upside down he is forced to go on the run. Where will he go, who will he turn too, and how will he proceed? Rated M, Light Harry turns Dark, HPxV/TR, Gore, Death, Language, Explicate Content, etc. Full Details inside. Remember not everyone Reacts the same way.
1. The Start of Trouble

_**Hello everyone,**_

_**This is my very first Harry Potter Fanfiction. As you know I have written a few other stories on here such as Kitties Paradise (Gundam Wing), Chased Love (Naruto), And Naruto's Change (Speaks for its self doesn't it? XD) **_

_**Anyways this Fanfiction is based off of some thoughts I had after reading many of the random Fanfictions on here in many different areas. This Story Will take place after The Prisoner of Azkaban and before The Goblet of Fire (By: J.K Rowling ), with a few tweaks of my own in it. I put a long thought out process to this and I hope you like what i have come up with. The beginning of the story will start of with every thought of the prior books before I created this Fanfiction. After that the plot will splinter into a new one. **_

_**So this is kind of an AU but not really. It is mostly an AR which will be slowly explained through the contents of this story. There will be hurt, gore, character deaths, content between men that isn't for young eyes, war, hints at abuse and or rape from the main hero's past, possible m-preg...not sure yet, and Language not suited for children.**_

_**Also upon reading this, there may be situations that may seem impossible to most. Here nothing is impossible, and no one reacts the same way as others do. Rape victims all react and handle things differently, just as abused victims do. **_

_**I hope you all enjoy this chapter and look forward to hearing from you all. If you have questions please feel free to ask. Each review will be given a proper answer at the beginning of each and every chapter. I'm not saying that I understand or anything, but I do know people in real life that have gone through these kinds of things and the way they handle it is their mentality to react to it differently whether violently, fearfully, acceptably, or even distantly. Each persons view as they go through it is different... it is NEVER the same.**_

**See you all later!**

Things in the story you might want to know.

"Talking, Spells"

_'Thinking or thoughts/ sound affects/ Memories'_

**_-Parseltongue-_**

**__****.:**_Spells_**__****:.**

* * *

_**Chapter One - The Start of Trouble**_

Pain… Searing, throbbing, and ever present pain seemed to never go away. This pain that always preceded most things in his life since the day he was born that is all he's ever known. He didn't know what love was, and he didn't think he ever would. He curled in on himself awaiting the next blow he knew was about to come. His shirt was shredded from the brutal attack and he knew all too well that he probably was going to be forced to fix as much of it as he could. _'Thwack,'_ the sound of leather meeting flesh resounded in the hallway to the house, on Privet Drive. The man above his was blue in the face from his constant yelling, and his vicious words continually spewing from between his lips. It had been an accident, and yet Harry was unable to voice the words as a foot landed into his gut, having altered from the use of the leather belt to physical attacks from his uncle's foot. More pain flamed out across his chest and was making his breaths, come out in short gasps. He bit his lip to keep from crying out and strangled each whimper that tried to tear from his throat. He could tell he had a broken rib, just by the mind numbing pain that laced across his torso. When the blows stopped he didn't look up at his uncle and just merely listened to the whale of a man as he spit out words venomously.

"If I catch you using that freakish magic again you freak I swear this punishment will be the least of your worries," He spat out.

He roughly grabbed Harry's hair and yanked upwards on it. His breath hitched and he kept his eyes closed as his Uncle Vernon began to drag him up the stairs, before throwing the broken and bloodied boy onto his own bedroom floor. He hurled a few more insults at the boy before giving him a disgusted look and turning to leave, whilst slamming the door behind him before multiple locks clicked into place to keep him from trying to sneak out to heal and clean out his wounds.

Hissing in pain Hairy pulled himself over to his bed and getting his self-up into an upright position. His ribs protested painfully as he hissed out between his clenched teeth. He gently tugged his shirt up over his head and looked at the tattered remains of what was left of his shirt. He sighed, knowing full well the shirt was a lost cause to repair it. Since Vernon kept not only his trunk and other magical items in his old room, the cupboard, under the stairs, but also his wand was there alongside them. Which meant using magic to fix it was out of the question. Shivering to the cool air of the room he got himself standing before walking over to his wardrobe and pulling out another shirt he could wear for the next day. He didn't bother putting it on, because it was more than likely that he wasn't going to be coming out of the room any time soon.

Harry felt stupid for what had happened to have gotten him into such a position. He'd been out in the garden pulling weeds to make the flower bed neat and pristine just like every other house on Privet Drive. The sickeningly sweet and yet exactly alike houses made Harry hate the place all the more then he already did. It was during this chore that a snake appeared in the garden. A harmless little Gardner snake lay basking in the sun between the petals of the flowers that were there. Aunt Petunia had come out to check up on him to see if he wasn't destroying her garden and had come across him talking to the snake as though it was another human being, but that isn't what freaked her out. It was the fact that Harry had been hissing out the words and the snake had replied back to whatever he'd said. Like always Petunia blathered on to Vernon saying he was talking to a snake, that it led to the man believing that Harry was using some kind of magic, or possibly was the demon he always said he was, to talk to the snake. In the end Harry was beaten by his uncle until his skin bled and some bones cracked or broke. It wasn't his fault that he became unaware that others could not understand snakes as he did. That he forgot that he was the only one able to speak to them and hear them… well other than Voldemort that is.

Sighing Harry painfully made his way back to his bed. He remembered the first time he ever spoke in Parseltongue… it had led to a lonely session when people spoke of him being the next dark lord. Words spit at him as though he was a demon and not a wizard like the rest of them. Sure Hermione and Ron hadn't turned on him, but the pale look Ron had given him had been reluctant to say the least. He was unsure of Hermione on it though, though she did take it better than everyone else to say the least. Cringing as another wave of pain flitted over his chest he laid back on the mattress. His breaths coming out in shallow pants as he fought back a whimper of pain as his ribs protested within him. Harry adjusted himself to where his broken ribs would settle in their rightful angles before muttering a wandless healing spell. Vivid Avada Kedavra Green eyes brightened a bit in relief when the pain died away to a numb feeling. This is how it always was for him since the day he'd been accepted into Hogwarts of witchcraft and wizardry. Though, he had to admit the beating only seemed to grow worse since he started there, and each year he always returned here.

Harry gave up on ever getting help. Help in the past had only caused him more pain and there had been nothing that Harry could do about it. At this thought Harry sat up and looked down over his torso. He had varying types of scars on his body ranging from the blades of sharp object markings to, markings made my blunt objects, and burn marks. His back had the worst of it all though, for on his back were the carved words of _'FREAK' _on his upper back. It had been most of his life up until just before he turned eleven that he found out that his name was Harry James Potter. Sure, he knew he was called Harry, but nothing more than that. So when letters for him kept coming at alarming frequencies in reply to Vernon's behavior Harry for once in his life back then had a thread of hope thrive within him. Harry remembered the day Hagrid had showed up to get him on his birthday. He clung to that hope even as he was whisked away to a world unknown to him. He was just thrown into it, having expectations shoved onto him before he knew what was really going on.

Harry tucked his legs up against him as his thoughts wandered. He still didn't understand why he had to be the one to save everyone. He recounted the times that Voldemort had attacked him during each school year. Slowly standing he walked over to a note book he was allowed to keep with him amongst a few more _'normal'_ objects that his muggle uncle approved of. He pulled out a pencil and started to write as his thoughts spilled out on the paper.

_First year:_

_I go from being plain Harry/ Freak to being Harry James Potter. I learn of my role just before I leave for Hogwarts, and in the process I also learn about Voldemort. A fully grown cave troll entered the school grounds and Ron, Hermione, and I somehow survived the deadly ordeal. During the school year I discover a few things about something called the sorcerer's stone. What doesn't add up is how Hermione seemed to find what we were pondering over being in the room with 'fluffy,' A monstrous Cerberus that Hagrid had since a pup, was standing on. We knew practically nothing except what little I know when Hagrid took us to Gringotts. Later Hermione, Ron, and I ventured down to what could have been our dooms. What question I have is what happened to our fear? Why did we venture down to our uncertain deaths? Something doesn't make sense…. In the end I faced Professor Quirell alone, and conveniently teachers showed up after the confrontation was over._

_Second Year:_

_I learn I am a parslemouth… Of course I already knew I could talk to snakes after accidently sicking a python on my cousin Dudley once. Though, the reaction I got from everyone was obviously a negative one. I was out casted because of my ability to talk to snakes. The only ones who stuck by me were Hermione and Ron… Don't know if I should count Dumbledore in that either. During that year, however, I found out a place called the Chamber of Secrets. It had been built by Salazar Slytherin himself, and housed a deadly Basilisk. Supposedly no one in the school knew about it… Ginny was possessed by the book and went into the chamber before anyone could find it. So how is, it Hermione got an idea to us Polyjuice Potion to find out what the Slytherin's knew? Better yet, what made her decide to use the bathroom the very entrance to the chamber was? What is even more curious is the fact that some people did know where it was, but couldn't open it. So why send a twelve year old boy to his impending doom to go alone into the dungeons to take on evil once again when they knew where it was? All they had to do was ask him to open it and then they could have at the memory of Tom Marvolo Riddle. If there is one thing I do know is that I, at that age, was unequipped to deal with someone more skilled in spell casting then I…. Apart from having Tom revealing he was Voldemort and that his name was an anagram for 'I am Lord Voldemort,' I keep running in this thought that something just isn't right._

_Third Year:_

_I start out thinking that Sirius Black, my god father, is none other than my parent's best friend who'd betrayed them. Which, later I find out is entirely false. On top of that once Sirius was on campus no one went looking for him. Curious since they all believed Sirius was out to get me. What's more is that fact of Peter Pettigrew still being alive, and the actual betrayer being revealed, after an unfortunate confrontation between Ron and Sirius in his Animagus form, which is the grim that Professor Trelawney predicted in divinations class.( On a note about that I believe she is a quack and a fraud.) Remus Lupin is helping Sirius into the school and at first I was angry until they explained themselves and we all found out that Ron's rat was actually Peter Pettigrew. The fat sniveling sap had the gall to beg for mercy, when he had practically force all of this on not only Harry and his Parents, but also poor Sirius who took the fall for it all. Even though Snape acts like a git I get the distinct feeling that he isn't as evil as he lets on… hopefully I'm not wrong in that assumption. After the confrontation Remus loses himself to his werewolf side, having forgotten what ever potion Sirius had spoken about to the other male. Sirius is seriously wounded and the werewolf comes after me when I tried to protect Sirius. After Remus is diverted I go to find Sirius by the black lake. Only to be overrun by dementors (Merlin I hate those things… they creep me out) and to be saved by none other than myself… though at the time I thought it had been my deceased father. Dumbledore acted as though he was unconcerned about anything we'd found out. In the end we saved Buckbeak and Sirius on our own without help (Yet again.) Starting to think even more so now more than ever that something is horribly wrong and I'm missing just exactly what the heck it is. _

_This Year:_

_What lays in wait for me now?_

Harry sat there for a while tapping his pencil against his bottom lip as he thought, though he didn't stay that way for long. It happened so suddenly that he was completely dazed by it. His whole body crumpled in on its self as he curled into a tight ball. Pain searing through his body as though every nerve had been set a flame, seemed to travel through every vain and nerve ending. His eyes slammed shut as he briefly realized he'd knocked his journal off his table, and onto the floor somewhere. His thoughts on the past few years now hidden from view as it bounced closed between his bed and the desk. His mind fogged over with the excruciating pain that coursed through him. He briefly wondered if the Cruciatus curse felt as bad as this pain did. His body felt hot, and uncomfortable heat the scorched everything within him. It literally felt like he was burning from the inside out, as though flames lapped at his insides to try and burst out of his tight skin. Unable to take it anymore Harry screamed out in pain as he curled up on the middle of his floor, wondering only momentarily how he'd gotten so far away from his bed as he curled up on the floor.

Harry could hear Vernon yelling and banging on the door, he knew that the man is less than pleased and will punish him after or during this pain. He didn't know which. Then His mind blacked out and all was dark. There was no longer any pain, no fire, no uncomfortable tightness of his skin, no more stabbing pains to make him cry out in agony. It was just all blissfully still, and Harry welcomed it without a problem. _'What happened? Am I dead? It's so dark here…I wonder…will I wake up? Or Will I be here for eternity? I think I like the thought of never waking…to escape it all. No one cares after all, even when I kept telling them about my life here at the Dursley's house. No one will miss me…'_

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Vernon was angry, so much so that he was rushing as fast as he could to unlock the many locks he'd placed on the freak's bedroom door. The boy wanted to scream, well then he was going to give him something to scream about. Before he reached the last lock he paused, when the other side of the door became eerily silent. No sobs, no harsh breathing, nothing… all was still and quiet. Grounding his teeth fresh anger welled up in him believing the boy had done it all on purpose. However upon flinging open the door Vernon found something he hadn't expected. In the middle of the room was a very large almost crystallized looking egg. The misty looking red-orange crystal, mixed with intricate designs made of black onyx shimmered in the middle of the room. Harry was nowhere to be seen. Petunia walks around the corner of the door to see her husband standing there staring at the huge crystal like egg in the middle of Harry's bed room, along with Dudley by her side.

"Mom where's Harry?"

"I- I don't know dear… Vernon?" She asked her horse like neck tense as she looked from her son to Vernon then to the monstrous egg in the room.

"That brat better be around here somewhere, I'm sure the freak is the reason this damn thing is hear," He growled before walking around the room that had little to no hiding places in it, in search for the dark haired boy. Yet he found nothing, "Where the bloody hell is he."

He was about to leave the room when something in the middle of the crystal egg caught his eye. He paused and squinted at the egg for a long moment before his face went white and he stuttered for a moment, just before his face became enraged and he slammed a fist into the eggs crystal surface. Which, was an idiotic choice on his part, since, as soon as his hand made contact the sound of bones breaking could be heard and Vernon yowled in pain before he started to yell. His face turning several different shades of colors as he, cursed the boy within the protective crystal. He sent dark promises to the unconscious boy within as he planned a painful reunion once he came out of the protective layers of the crystal egg. The man grinned malevolently as he turned to Petunia who was fussing over his injured had. They left for the hospital to check on the broken hand that belonged to Vernon.

What they didn't take notice to was the mist color within thickening to hide the person within from prying eyes, and that by the end of the day Harry's world would take a turn for the worst.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Harry could hear the far off sounds of someone talking… or maybe they were yelling. It was at this point Harry's mind wondered just who it could be. He didn't have to think long when a dull sound resounded around him as though, something solid had been hit. Which didn't make sense to him, Wasn't he lying in his room? Curling in on himself he tried to ignore it, but he had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. As though he was supposed to remember something, but what had he forgotten? His hazy mind tried to pick back up, but the blissfully numb feeling through his body felt so comforting and welcoming. Wait… why was he numb again? Better yet why was he relieved that he felt numb? His mind sluggishly kicked back into play as he remembered his beating that afternoon, and his thoughts in his journal. Though, his mind tried to shy away from what had happened next. He faintly remembered the white hot pain he'd felt, a pain so crippling that he was sure the Cruciatus had nothing on its pain. So what happened? Why was he numb? He realized with rising panic he couldn't get himself to wake up.

Horror struck his whole system when he remembered that Uncle Vernon had been at his door yelling at him before he'd blacked out. Had the man beaten him once he was unconscious and unable to defend himself weakly from the blows sent his way? Dawning realization hit him when he remembered that there was someone's voice earlier and it sounded muffled and so far away to him. Not to mention the sound of something hit something solid. But what could that mean? Harry was so confused and only wished to be able to see what was going on around him. _'Just go back to sleep… you don't want to face the real world just yet… just go to sleep.'_ The voice in the back of his mind soothed softly. Harry decided it was okay to obey the voice, and so didn't worry anymore about waking up. He wasn't ready to face Vernon or Dudley just yet. He wasn't ready to continue the ever raging war between Voldemort and Dumbledore. Here he was just safe, war, and numb to everything he knew. Here time didn't matter, and here he knew he didn't have to face anything just yet.

Harry wasn't sure how much time had passed by; to him it felt as though years had gone by, when in reality only a couple days had gone by. Vernon had pretty much left the large egg alone… well for the most part. Some days he'd come in and banged on it to get Harry to wake up, but nothing more than that since his hand was currently in a cast. It was around the third day that something in Harry told him it was time to wake up. Heavy and sleep filled eyes cracked open slowly, to peer into some kind of liquid that reminded harry of jello or possibly even lava if it didn't seem so thin looking. Small bubble like shapes floated within the substance surrounding him, and he wondered momentarily where exactly he was. Slowly his mind rebooted and slight panic invoked his body to flinch violently when he realized that, he in a panic, could drown. Though, his more rational part of his mind noted he was breathing just fine without air, and that puzzled him. At this point Harry started to notice other things. His sight seemed to be a lot sharper than it used to be, and his hearing seemed to have increased as well. He was startled from his thoughts when a sharp sound resounded off a solid surface close to him. His vivid green eyes tinted into an almost black color because of the liquid bore into his Uncle not far from him, and Harry froze. Fear gripped him and he was suddenly happy that he was inside this object, as the man yelled obscenities at him causing Dudley and Aunt Petunia to investigate what he was yelling about so early in the morning. Harry cringed away from the man which wasn't a good idea because the man suddenly had a malicious look coat his features.

A shiver raced down his spine unaware of the darker mass within the egg drawing closer to him in reaction to his emotions. He watched his uncle silently as the man slammed his hand against the protective shell encasing Harry, until a loud sound echoed around him and Vernon stopped what he was doing. A puzzled look came over his uncle's features, before looking around the room, for where the sound came from and yet, couldn't pin point it. It was at that point that something caught Harry's eye and he paled when the spider web like crack spread over the protective layer. His Uncle smirked vindictively as he took one step back to watch the crystal shell crumble. Three days' worth of anger was pent up in him and Harry was going to get the brunt of it all here soon.

When the shell encasing him seemed fit to burst the cracking stopped. All was silent and Vernon frowned ready to take a step forward to force the crystal apart. As soon as he took that one step the shell exploded in a rain of crystal shards and fire pelting everything within range as a loud explosion caused them to fly away from Harry with deadly accuracy. Harry had closed his eyes and had covered ears with his hands to muffle out the sound as a scream erupted out from Petunia alongside the explosion. All went silent soon after, well except the sound of someone crying. Harry slowly opened his eyes to see the damage that had been caused. His room was destroyed, and flames flickered across every surface in the room. What drew his attention was the charcoal appearance of what once used to be Vernon. Shards of orange stuck out of his body, still aflame from the explosion caused by the egg when it had finally burst apart. Harry stared on in complete shock from where he was on the floor. A choked sob of pain caught his attention from the charred remains of his uncle. His eyes floating over to his Aunt who was pinned to the wall with the large crystal like shell casing. The crystal was lodged into her chest, blood dripping steadily down her body. The object had missed her heart, but her lunge was destroyed and she was slowly losing her life force. The crystal had been one of the few large pieces that were logged into walls around the room, as well as smaller ones that slowly melted and turned what ever it touched into flames. On the floor at his aunt's feet was Dudley, his face pierced through with the smaller shards, and slightly burnt like his father had been, having been to close when the explosion happened. Though his Uncle took most of the blast having been in front of Dudley when the explosion happened. His fat body was coated in blood as thousands of tiny shards stuck out from his body causing him to bleed out profusely. Sinew, and muscles were slowly being exposed as some of the crystals melted and the skin started to burn gradually as the crystals melted.

Horror filled Harry's very being as something soon caught his attention from the gruesome scene before him. Upon his back was a pair of thick black wings tipped in pure white._ 'What is happening? What happened to me? Oh Merlin….what have I done?'_ Harry panicked as thoughts raced through his mind. His whole being aching to take flight and keep running and never look back. He ended up doing just that, after he watched the light drain from his Aunt's eyes, when the large crystal in her body drain her body of her blood. Before the fire started to spread to the rest of the house Harry bolted down the stairs and to his things under the cupboard.

He looked at the things with in and decided to take only what he needed. He pulled a satchel out that had an expansion charm on it before stuffing his invisibility cloak, wand, and a couple spell books head bought over the summer only to have Vernon get a hold of them, some of his robes, his broom, and a few days' worth of food into it, before tying it around his waist. Once finished he didn't look back as he threw a cloak on over his body to hide his wings and surprisingly enough, Tail to hide them from view. Once finished he flipped the hood of the cloak over his head to hide his face so he wouldn't be recognized and left the house through the back door, as though Voldemort himself was on his heels. Running and never stopping to look back once. He didn't realize that he should be cold, that he should feel the wet rain pelting his body, but none of it registered in his mind as he singly thought about getting as far away as he could. He didn't know where he was going, or what he would do now that he'd killed his _'family,'_ but he did know that he could never return to the life he knew. Sure it had all been an accident, but it was still his fault. Unshed tears slowly started to spill from his eyes, as he ran without pause, without another thought, without seeing, and without a plan as to what he was going to do now that his life was forfeit.

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_**Next chapter- **On The run_

_**I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please R&R I would appreciate it thank you.**_


	2. On the Run

_**Hello again everyone,**_

_**Here is the second installment of A shadowed life. I hope you all enjoy it and I look forward to your comments on it. Thanks again and hope to see you all again soon. Enjoy!**_

_**Also please remember that yes this may seem impossible, but all will be explained in due time :3**_

_** Insanely-Yours96: Thank you so much for reading, I am glad you gave me some pointers. Hopefully I can straighten them all out.**_

Things in the story you might want to know.

"Talking/ spells"

_'Thinking/ sound affects/ Memories'_

**_-Parseltongue-_**

**.:**Spells**:.**

* * *

**Chapter Two**- _On the Run_

Harry didn't know how long he'd been running, or where he was running too. He hadn't seen the bridge, or the many places he'd passed along the way. His inhuman capabilities probably having had something to do with it all. When he stopped he had no clue as to where he was. As far as he could see he was in a large town somewhere, which also looked vaguely familiar. He had the briefest thought that he'd been through here once before. Pulling his cloak tighter he started to walk slowly through the people on the sidewalk. His wings crunched up against his back as far as he could get them. He honestly didn't know what to think of his wings and tail, and he really hadn't had the time to examine them either. Something told him finding a place to be alone to do so would be hard to come by. At least in the muggle world he would be unable to do so, for they weren't supposed to know of magic let alone magical beings. In his case he looked more like a magical creature then anything he'd been in the past. Even as a wizard he was hard to spot, but now it was like he had a neon sign over his head pointing him out for all to see.

Harry kept his face hidden in the shadows of his cloaked hood, his green eyes peering out at the world around him nervously. Had he run over the bridge to bring him here? He shook the thought away as he came upon where he would be staying for the night. It was safer than the muggle world for the time being, but not enough to keep away from the magical one. The Leaky Cauldron was probably the last place he should go, but for now it would do. He would leave first thing in the morning if he had too. Swallowing thickly he walked over to over to the counter to pay for a room for the night. He dug briefly into the satchel, knowing his money bag had been in there before he'd stuffed everything else in it. Once the right amount was laid down he was given a key to his room. Thanking the man he turned and walked up the stairs that led to the rooms. Today would have been Harry's birthday, but that small comfort was no longer there for him. Slipping into his room he closed and locked the door, before turning to look at the room he had for the night. He'd never stayed here before, and it was all knew to him, but the set up was rather plane and gave an almost warm earthy feel with all the wood used in the room. Pealing his cloak off, he draped it over the back of one of the wood chairs in the room. The old worn wood looking worse for wear.

Sighing Harry let his new wings relax watching them in slight curiosity, until something caught his eye. He tugged his right wing around his body awkwardly. It didn't hurt but it was uncomfortable to say the least. His eyes narrowed slightly as he noted that the wings were in dead covered in feathers, but that wasn't what caught his attention. What had caught his attention was the fact that between every feather were black scales that held them tightly in place on the almost angelic wings. Even if one where to tug at the feathers they would literally have to try and rip the feathers out from between tightly pressed scale to get them out of the small wedges. They looked sharp to him, though he wasn't entirely sure if they were or not since running his own fingers over it didn't seem to bother his skin. Then again his skin still felt weird to him as though it itself was tight and hard as diamonds. Yet his skin still gave way under normal touch, maybe he was just over reacting to his senses now, either way Harry still felt odd. Releasing his winged appendage he grabbed for his tail. The almost serpentine quality, causing his curious eyes rake over it to the tip, where a spade like protrusion extended out from the narrow end. He didn't know what to think of this either, but it too was cover in the same obsidian colored scales that were pressing the feathers on his wings in place.

He then had another thought, _'If these new appendages are what I notice without looking in the mirror, what else is wrong with me?'_ Standing Harry hesitantly made his way over to the full sized mirror on the wall in one corner of the room. Taking the talking mirror charm off his eyes widened as he leaned forward to make sure what he was seeing was really there. His hair had grown out, causing the long strands to fall along his back between his wings, keeping the strands perfectly in place without causing discomfort. The strands curled lightly at the ends, framing his face, as his bangs hid the scare from view. But that wasn't what caught his attention, no it was the pointed ears fully peeking from his hair, and the intricate almost flame like tattoo that adorned the left side of his face, drawing attention to it and not his scar. Opening his mouth he found he also had sharp canines, which would extend a bit when his jaw flexed certain ways. He looked at the pale pallor to his skin that almost seemed to glow, yet didn't. Quickly stripping his shirt off he checked to make sure nothing else was different. His eyes widened as the same obsidian scales lined his shoulders and partially his upper arms. Spinning around he noted those same scales lined his spinal column and almost his entire upper back, making them appear almost in a perfect triangle shape as the tip extended in an upside down pyramid to the long column going down his spine. Blushing cherry red, he swiftly kicked his pants off and looked as the column stopped at the base of his spine. That was all he saw of the black scales. Turning back around, he inspected the rest of himself, noting the darkened fingernails that were also slightly pointed. He was also a bit taller than before as well, which he noticed didn't seem to lift his mood even the slightest.

He was in awe of his new form, but what caused it? Why now? Harry had many questions and not enough answers. At this point though his mind was bugging him, as though he'd over looked one minor detail. It took him a while to figure it out. Harry wasn't wearing any glasses, and on top of that his pupil had an odd slit to it. At each end of the slit was a small spade shape, which tightened as he scrutinized it silently. Silently he walked over to his bed and let his mind sink deep into his thoughts.

"What am I?" he whispered out to the empty room around him, as it grew dark signaling the night was approaching and fast.

Harry just sat there, not twitching a muscle as he leaned over his knees and let his head hang limply upon his shoulders. None of this made sense, and it scared him that something he didn't know was now presenting itself to him. His hands came up and laced into his bangs to grab at them harshly. He didn't know what to do anymore, everything had been so simple before. Live with the Dursley's abuse, go to Hogwarts, and defeat another version of the dark lord again… So why know was this happening? Harry felt frustrated as hot tears of despair rolled down his cheeks. The sound of his voice giving into his inner turmoil and pain cried out his sorrow as he lay down to curl up into a tight ball. His wings lying at an awkward angle behind him. Sleep found him eventually as the shadows of the room cradle him in its embrace. Though, even in his dreams he was still unable to escape the problems and stress he always seems to carry around. Jolting awake every few hours, only to slip back into blissful nightmares again.

When the sun came the next morning Harry was waking up as the first rays flitted into the room. His tired and puffy features seemingly showing the depression he was feeling. He laid there for a while longer before groggily pushing himself up. He glanced back at his wings deciding that it was probably best to head to Diagon Alley and stop by Flourish & Blotts for something that would help hide his wings, tail, and ears. Possibly even something on what he is, and the probability that he was either part serpent or dragon was highly probable. Slowly he moved to his satchel where he'd dropped all his clothes the other day. Since he went to bed in his boxers he didn't have to worry about slipping out of his pajamas. He pulled a clean robe, pants, and shirt out before pulling out another bag that was in the satchel and stuffing his dirty clothes into it. Once he was finished getting dressed he tended to his now long hair. Even after having slept unpleasantly his hair seemed to slip like fine silk between his fingers. The usually unruly strands still tried their attempt at doing so, but the shorter strands curling out and away from the rest of his hair at the tips, it almost gave it a layered look to it. He was grateful though that the strands hadn't knotted and wondered if it ever could get knotted. Shrugging it off he moved to grab his cloak after tying his satchel to his waist again.

Walking down the stairs to the main corridor and dining area, he handed the key back to Tom, the owner, and sat down at one of the tables to eat breakfast. He was in deep thought when a flash of red caught his attention. There at the counter talking to the owner was none other the Arthur Weasley and his Family. Alongside them was Hermione Granger, her frizzy hair as chaotic as it always was. She was holding Crookshanks in her arms stroking the thick fur of the feline in almost a self-comforting gesture. Hermione looked worried, and if Molly's and the rest of her family was anything to go by, so where they. Harry paled and looked at the table top before him as a bartender came over and asked him what he would like to eat.

"Just some soup and water," He said softly before getting a nod and the person walked away.

Harry's eyes glanced up from under his bangs to watch the family silently, before they wandered over to a table near him. Harry kept his face turned down, and his ears listening for anything words they had to say. He wondered just how much they all knew, but regardless of that he knew they would never get the full true story about all that had happened. For only he knew exactly what happened, and in his mind he thought what had happened was his entire fault. That he could never return and go back to the way things used to be. He was positive that what happened at the house, due to the fire, and been on the news. Tragic incidents where people died where always a hit new catcher for many of the muggles and judging by Hermione's face and the way she held Crookshanks spoke loudly.

"Dear please you must eat something," Arthur said to Molly softly.

"I can't… not while Harry's out there alone….scared…. even possibly hurt. Oh, Arthur there must be something we can do," Molly said softly.

"I know Molly, but there isn't much we can do. Dumbledore is doing all he can to find the boy. It was tragic what happened at that house," He sighed softly.

"What exactly happened? I know on the news here they said the house had caught fire and three bodies had been found, but they never said much else on the matter," Hermione asked Mr. Weasley silently.

"Well from what I've heard from Dumbledore is that it was all caused by magic. The Dursley's had been long dead before their house burned down, There was nothing left of anything there, and judging by the fact that Harry's owl wasn't there along with a few other personal items, we can only assume the boy escaped the disaster that occurred there," Mr. Weasley informed them. "He might have even been taken, but we can't be sure."

Harry wanted to speak out, and desperately wanted them to know he was okay. That he was fine and unharmed. To say he was sorry for worrying them, sorry that he had caused the house fire, sorry that he was the cause of the Dursley's deaths. Yet, fear held him back and that to them all he would be was a monster disguised as their friend. He bit his lip harshly piercing the skin as he did so to keep silent as the family lapsed into explanations that could have possibly happened. He barely noticed when the bartender came over and placed his bowl of soup and glass of water before him. He numbly at his meal, it was when he was half way finished with his meal that he felt eyes on him. Turning his head slightly he took note that Ron was looking at him intently a frown on his face. Harry just gave him a soft smile, which only caused the red head's frown to deepen. Sighing Harry found, himself no longer hungry, before placing a few coins down as a tip.

He could still feel the other eyes on his back as he made his way into the area where Diagon Alley connected to the Muggle world. Harry moved to the wall and tapped at the Bricks as Hagrid had once showed him before his first year in Hogwarts. The bricks stacked apart and Harry slipped into the Wizarding world. Unaware of the company he had currently following him.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Ron watched the male who'd been silently sitting in his chair, possibly listening in on their discussion of Harry. He looked and acted suspicious to him. Cloaked In black and hiding in shadows like a spy would. Though the person kept their head down and their features hidden, something about the man's poster shouted at him to be cautious. Was this man a Death Eater? If so and Harry is on the run, then he was now in danger. As he looked at the man he turned his head slightly in his direction, and Ron was taken aback by the unearthly glow to them. Almost like the way Crookshanks eyes glowed at a certain angle, making it impossible for him to distinguish eye color. The male gave a smiled that he thought was a way to deceive him, that he was harmless and Ron though he clearly was not. When the other pushed aside his bowl and placed some coins down before getting up, he watched intently as the male vanished in the direction the gate way for Diagon Alley would be. Leaning over to Hermione he quickly coaxed her into helping him tail the man. Silently they followed at a distance, as the man entered into Diagon alley, before going straight for Flourish & Blotts. Staying outside the watched him through the windows to the shop. Tracking his movements as he went.

Hermione was getting annoyed with Ron's paranoia that only seemed to get worse when Harry wasn't around. Though, she had to agree the guy was strange and even though he didn't seem to want to draw attention he did so anyways. They watched as the man purchased a healthy amount of books, the honesty got Hermione giving the guy respect for his thirst for knowledge like he had. Before leaving after paying for the books the male opened the satchel beneath his robs and slipped the books inside. Letting Ron and Hermione both know that the bag had an expansion charm on it. He left the building and walked to a few more stores, buying food that also vanished into his satchel, as well as new clothes from Madam Malkin's and other odds and ends at other shops. At one point the man walked into Slug and Jiggers Apothecary for a wide variety of potions and ingredients. Hermione glanced over at Ron who had gone pale, possibly thinking that it was all for Harry or something.

They kept following him from there as the man walked into Gringott's to make a withdrawal. They stayed outside and waited for the man to reappear again. Once he did they walked silently behind him in the busy streets of Diagon Alley. The man slipped into the shop Magical Menagrerie, for a new pet. It was obvious that Ron thought the male would buy something deadly or even snake like. Which, judging by the way he moved to the cages in the back that at least part of that was true. Realizing almost too late that the man was walking to the door after purchasing his pet they dove down behind a stall unnoticed by the bustling crowed around them. The man paused outside the shop mumbling under his breath as he looked around. Hermione's eyes, as well as Ron's took in the man's slightly shadowed features. The man's bangs were long, and his features smooth and almost elven or angelic like. When his face turned more their direction to look back up the lane, not noticing them as they stayed hidden from view. They took in the tattoo that seemed to curve to his features like living flames, though what was more eye catching were his eyes. Strangely slitted eyes of vividly bright green color startled them both as they watched the man. Hermione's mind wandered at many questions that flitted through her frazzled mind, while Ron grew angry thinking that they couldn't possibly be the man's eye color. If it was a death eater then there was no doubt about it. With all the man had bought that day he was certain he knew something they did not. There was no doubt about it, and Ron decided then that they needed to corner the man and soon. Little did he know that Harry was the one he was looking at and he sure as hell knew more than either of the two could ever fathom.

They followed him once he started walking again and Ron turned to Hermione, "We have to corner him. I'm sure more now than ever that he knows where Harry is."

"Ron you can't be serious? How do, you even know that this person even knows where he is let alone if he's involved in what happened at his house," Hermione said in a hushed tone.

"I don't Hermione I just have a feeling okay. Besides can you overlook what he's gotten today? You can't honestly think that he isn't, right?" Ron pleaded with her.

Hermione looked over to the man as they walked at a distance behind him. She had to agree with him to a point. He did buy a lot of books and ingredients let alone a sloe of other things. The only question she didn't understand was who this possibly could be. He did look important a bit, but nothing in her mind could place who he could possibly be. Something wasn't right and usually she would follow her instincts, but if Harry was in trouble she would do anything to try and help the best she could.

"'Mione you know that has to mean something," He said softly his eyes hard yet pleading towards her.

"Alright Ron as long as it's for Harry I'll do it," She said whispered.

"Thanks 'Mione, I knew I could count on you," He smiled to her.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Harry was having a good day so far, besides what he heard back at the Leaky Cauldron. He'd found some decent books he could read about what may or may not have happened to him. Plus some new spell books with spells that looked promising. May as well start up on reading since there was nothing better to do anymore. He was basically on the run and had nowhere to go, with a Dark Lord out for his blood, and the fact that the Order and the Auras were probably out to get him now to, he just couldn't take chances anymore. He'd gotten himself some new clothes to wear and some more food, other than what he already had, plus a new pet. Hedwig had gone missing during his black out, and he hoped his dear friend was okay. He hadn't seen her in her cage upon looking about his room when his safe haven had exploded, and she wasn't in her cage under the stairs. A shiver had raced down his spine at the thought that Vernon may have killed her to spite Harry for something he couldn't control and really he wouldn't put it past the man to do just that.

He tugged at his cloak to look at the young Tiger Snake nestled safely against his neck. The snake hadn't had a name when he'd gone in, and even asking the young creature had turned up nothing. He was happy the Tiger Snake wanted to come with him, and really he couldn't blame him. The place was horrible and smelled of something awful. Though, it wasn't the entire reason the creature had wanted to come with him. Harry was interesting to the snake, and powerful. Somehow, hearing that from the young snake made Harry think of Nagini, Voldemort's Viper. He'd wandered around before deciding on the snake, when nothing else seemed to call to him like the Jet Black, with lighter colors between the bands, Tiger Snake had. He named him Osiris and it seemed like a good name for him, considering he was a very venomous snake with very potent venom. He remembered what the shop owner had told him about the species. It was a snake that was indigenous to Australia, and was considered tolerant of colder climates. Osiris's species could also grow to be up to two point nine meters in length, which was approximately ten feet. Osiris's venom possessed potent neurotoxins, coagulants, haemolysins, and myotoxins, which Harry hoped would never come to be used. The snake seemed obedient and ready to follow orders from him. Its other distant cousins like the Chappell island tiger snake, were considered docile. He had no doubt in his mind if Osiris felt threatened he would dispatch his aggressor swiftly.

From what he could tell of the symptoms, the person would only feel localized pain, usually in the foot and neck regions. On top of that there would be tingling, numbness, and sweating followed by difficulty breathing and paralysis. To Harry the venom was a good sense of protection, and Osiris wouldn't bite him, or at least he hoped so. He was fairly confident that the snake couldn't disobey him, though he would have to look through the book on snakes he bought to find out if there were any spells he could use for obedience from the creature. For now however Osiris was content to nap around his neck, loving the warmth of Harry's body.

He slipped into another store, one that mostly did spells on bags and such for expansions or security measures and such. He reached into his satchel, for one of the odds and ends he'd picked up that day. Pulling out a messenger bag that had different compartments in it and asked the man to make expansions on each one and to place a security spell on one compartment in the bag that he could put a password for. The expansions would be completed with lightening spells so no matter how much he put in it and would feel light to him or anything else. As the man worked on his request Harry walked around the shop to look at trunks that where there as well. He didn't think he would need a new one, considering her would have his messenger bag to hold his things in for now, but he looked anyways as he waited. When he the shop owner was finished Harry thanked him and paid him the money he owed, before slipping out of the shop with his new bag slung over his shoulder. It rubbed irritatingly over his wings under his cloak. Hopefully he would find something he could use to make his wings vanish, in the books he bought, for now however, he ignored the irritating feeling.

He turned and headed for Knockturn Alley, to see if there were shops down there he could venture into, to take a look around in. However, this wasn't going to happen since something slammed into him and pressed him up against the bricks, forcing him to turn his head side ways to try and glance back at the one holding him there. Unfortunately for him his hood was in the way and was unable to see his assailant. The voice her heard next made him freeze and Harry's mind started to reel inn fear and panic.

"Let's move some place more private shall we?" the all too familiar voice said through his cloak to his ear.

He was yanked harshly backwards and forcefully shoved into an alley way, cut off from the more inhabited area. Harry swallowed thickly as he was roughly spun around and slammed into the wall. He forced himself not to wince at the painful feeling coming from his wings, force being slammed against the wall the way he'd been. What greeted his eyes was his best mate, Ronald Weasley. Hermione was only a step behind him as he stared at the two. Harry gritted his teeth at the hand pressing into his shoulder harshly, and prayed that Osiris kept silent and out of sight.

"Who are you and what, have you done with Harry? Are you a death eater? Do you work with? V-You-Know-Who?" The red head hissed through gritted teeth.

"I haven't done anything," As soon as those words left his mouth Ron pulled then pushed him hard into the wall again.

"Liar!" Ron growled out, "Then why were you listening in on our conversation earlier?"

"I was curious that is all," He hissed back at Ron.

"Yeah right and I'm to believe that?" Ron's eyes narrowed at him.

"I'll ask again, who are you and do you work for him?"

Harry knew who the _'him'_ entailed too so he answered that first, "No, I don't work for him. Are you happy now?"

Ron bared his teeth obviously he didn't believe him and wasn't at all happy. Hermione looked about to say something when Ron reached forward and ripped the hood to his cloak right of his head. It caught the edge of his pointed ears painfully. His reaction was instantaneous, he froze and his eyes went wide before shoving Ron away from him with force he didn't know he had. A shiver raced down his spine as he stayed pressed up against the wall, almost seeming to wish that he could fade into it. Ron and Hermione stared at him with wide surprised eyes as they took in the very obvious pointed ears that pointed out and away from his skull, like an elf's would.

"You're a, blimey elf?!" Ron choked out shocked at what he was seeing. To most of the wizarding world elves were no longer around and to see one wasn't ever going to happen.

"N-not quite," Harry said nervously.

"Then what the hell are you?" Ron asked.

"To be honest I'm not too sure myself," Harry muttered.

"Like hell you don't only an idiot wouldn't know what they are," Ron growled out.

Before Harry could fully think through what he was doing, he allowed his black wings to come out from behind him. The powerful appendages pushing his cloak behind him and the messenger bag down to his side. This also exposed his long tail that practically dragged the ground, if he hadn't wrapped it around his leg to keep people from stepping on it let alone being seen by anyone. Ron paled and Hermione looked intrigued yet fearful, but not as much as Ron.

"You're a d-d-d-d-demon!" He stuttered out pointing an accusing finger at Harry. "You're a, m-m-m-monster, and you p-probably killed Harry's family. You must be working with him, and you probably hurt H-harry too."

Those words hit Harry like a ton of bricks. Even if Ron didn't know it was him, it still hurt a lot to be called those things. They were the same verbal wounds that Vernon and the rest of the Dursley's had used when yelling at him. Harry visibly flinched at the words, and it gave Ron pause as his features twisted into confusion.

"I'm not a monster," Harry whispered as his face turned down and away.

Ron came back with full force once again, barreling on as though he was right in what he was saying, "Yeah right… I bet you're a murderer, a monster is a murderer and they are remorseless."

Harry kept his head down and away knowing that it was true in a way. He had killed, even if it wasn't his fault he felt as though it was. His mind slipped away from his current situation and thought about the scene he'd left behind at the house he could never call his home. He was unaware of someone approaching him, but Ron's voice rang out and snapped him out of his thoughts.

"'Mione don't, he's not worth it."

Harry glanced over at the bushy haired girl, who was now closer then she'd been a moment ago, having had jumped back when he'd shoved Ron to the opposite side of the Alley. She reached out and touched the side of his face, causing Harry to freeze as though he expected to be struck by that very same hand.

"Have you killed someone?" she asked softly.

Harry stared at her for a long time before he answered, "It wouldn't matter if I told you or not."

"Maybe, but something tells me you're not the kind of person who murderers people out of cold blood," She stated softly to him.

His eyes searched hers before he spoke again answering her prior question, "Yes." The words came out almost quietly chocked, yet still loud enough for Ron to hear.

Ron's face went as pale as a sheet, "Hermione step away from him. You heard it he killed someone."

Hermione didn't do as told and just stood there, her fingers still laying upon his cheek gently, "I believe you." She stated softly to him, and Harry looked at her with softened eyes.

"You're the only one who does," He said taking her hand and pulling it away as his eyes averted hers.

"Come with us, if Dumbledore knew what happened I'm sure he could help you," She said in a pleading voice, "You can make up for what you did, by trying another route. He can protect you and help you out."

Harry's eyes hardened and the slits narrowed, "No! Dumbledore can't help me, he already tried and even then he was manipulative enough to destroy me."

He shouldn't have said those words, and he was surprised enough that he was unaware he harbored anger towards the grandfatherly type man. He'd always thought the man had saved him from his horrible life with the Dursley's. So what changed his way of thinking? It was possible that a part of him knew all along the answer to his questions that he had starting with his first year at Hogwarts. His questions as to why the headmaster never saved him during the summer time, and kept forcing him back under the Dursley's roof under the guise that he was safer there. Dumbledore had only been using him, manipulating him into a weapon of war and crafting him to obey everything he said or suggested. Harry bit his lip harshly as his form started to take on small tremors as he stood there. He couldn't believe what his thoughts were telling him. How could he doubt Dumbledore, and better yet why would he?

"W-what do you mean?" Hermione said to him eyes wide at his verbal outburst, the harsh words taking her aback.

Ron had his wand out and trained on Harry in case he did anything to hurt Hermione. Harry just shook his head and let go of her hand, as his own shaking ones fell back to his sides. He didn't look at either of them, as his wings pulled close to him almost in a safe haven like cocoon.

"Answer her demon!" Ron yelled at him.

Harry's head snapped up and bared his teeth, "I'm not a demon so stop saying that!" Before anything else could be said Harry's magic lashed out in his anger, causing Hermione to fly back and into Ron.

With a powerful push of his wings he took to the sky, and quickly vanished from their sight, not even looking back to see if Hermione was alright from slamming into Ron by the push of his magic. He didn't hear the shouting of Ron's voice, didn't see the buildings as they raced away from him, and didn't see the eyes of a few wizards that had caught sight of him as he made his escape. He was running, and that's all he ever seemed to do when things got too tough for him or when he got to scared. What he didn't understand was how he could face off with Voldemort the way he did in each encounter with the man. Harry's eyes stung and his hands trembled balled up in tight fists at his side, as the wind rushed past him.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Hermione stared wide eyed at the boy before her he was just that, a boy. She couldn't tell how old he was but he was young, possibly even around her age judging by his appearance. But there was pain in those eyes, pain that hadn't been there moments ago. Among that pain was confusion, hurt, betrayal, and a darkness that she couldn't put a name on. This person looked as though he was drowning, and there was no one there to pull him out. She didn't know what her mind was telling her, she didn't know why she even wanted to help this person, but it was a strong urge to do so. She never got the chance though because Ron's mouth ran off with him and insulted the very emotional boy. She was surprised by the force of magic that knocked her off her feet when it lashed out. It was powerful all on its own without the boy's help and he took advantage of the reprieve of a wand being pointed at him. She watched as he vanished over the roof tops and vaguely answered Ron when he asked if she was okay, before turning to yell at the boy who was no longer there.

She had felt sorry for him, and wondered what kind of life he lived to be filled with the darkness she had seen in his eyes. She lost herself in her own thoughts as she was pulled along by Ron's hand on hers. Her mind not taking notice of the stores she passed, the wizards and witches that looked at them when Ron shoved past them, or the warmth she felt on her skin when she was brought back to the Leaky Cauldron to his panicked family that thought something had happened to them. Molly chewed them out and Hermione had the decency to look sheepish when she'd been pulled out of her thoughts. In a flurry of words Ron started to tell them of what they had been doing when Mr. Weasley asked them too. The looks on their faces went from intrigued, to pale, to horror in a span of less than a few minutes. Hermione gave bits and pieces Ron had left out, possibly on purpose, and molly's face showed disappointment with him. In turn Ron glowered at Hermione, but otherwise said nothing.

"Well then, once we are done here we will have to tell the Headmaster. He'll hopefully have some insight on what to do from here," Molly said as she ushered their large group into Diagon Alley.

Fred and George went off on their own, as Molly and Arthur accompanied her and Ron around Diagon Alley for the new school year supplies they needed for Hogwarts. Hermione's mind kept wandering back to the scene from the alley way. She'd been surprised by the whole ordeal and at first she'd also thought that he was an elf, just like Ron had. When the boy showed the rest of himself however, she didn't know what to think about him. She'd been afraid that was for sure, but not as much as Ron seemed to have been. She was intrigued by him and couldn't place where his appearance seemed familiar to her. He was definitely neither elf nor demon, but then what was he? That question was going to bother her quiet a lot. When she got back to the Burrow she got back to Hogwarts she was going to do a bit of light reading to find out just why he seemed familiar to her. When the day ended and they were done with their shopping, they progressed back to the Burrow, where Arthur Weasley immediately fire-called Dumbledore.

He explained in short detail what he heard when Ron and Hermione had told them about their little adventure. It didn't take long for Dumbledore to tell him that he would come over to chat with them all face to face. Upon his arrival Molly ushered her family to the chairs around the table as Dumbledore asked Hermione what had happened. Obviously hoping to get more information from her rather than Ron.

"Hermione, please tell me what you and Mister Ronald Weasley got your selves into while out shopping today?" He asked her as he peered over his glasses at her.

Hermione nodded slightly, "Well you see sir, Ron, got my attention after we had all discussed what could have possibly happened at Harry's house. He told me he suspected the guy who'd left had been listening in on us and was suspicious looking. He also mentioned that he might have been a death eater…"

"If he was a death eater do you think he wouldn't be able to handle two children such as yourselves?" He asked and Hermione ducked her head and mumbled a small no, "Well then ate least you know it was a mistake, please tell me what else happened."

"Well we followed him from store to store and the more we followed the more we started to believe that he actually knew something, but I thought that than again he might just be a studious person and possibly a potions master. But Ron was insistent that it had to do with Harry, so we followed him some more to other various shops, as he picked up things ranging from food, to cloths, and then into a pet shop, Gringott's, and a shop that helped with expansions on items other than trunks. It was when he was heading to Knockturn Alley that Ron made the move on cornering him as we had planned after the pet shop. At first Ron spoke to the other person with his hood still drawn over his face. Ron asked him some questions before he got frustrated with him and pulled the hood off his head."

"What questions did he ask?" Dumbledore cut her off again.

"What his name was, what had he done with Harry was and if he had anything to do with You-Know-who."

"Did he answer them?"

"Yes and No."

"What do you mean?" He asked clear confusion on his face.

"Well he never answered if he knew where Harry was, and never told us his name, but he did say he wasn't a part of the death eaters."

"Which I still think he was lying," Ron said as he growled, "He was way to shifty not to be."

Dumbledore looked at him over his glasses, "Was he lying? How could you know that?"

Ron stammered in his hast to redeem his words, "I dun know he just gave off an odd vibe. I didn't trust him and he was suspicious."

Dumbledore didn't look impressed with his lame excuse, before turning away as Ron slumped in his seat with a pout. "Now Miss Granger, please tell me what else happened," He asked her politely, the fatherly twinkle in his eyes as he spoke.

"Well Ron accused him of being a liar when after slamming him into the wall he'd had him pressed up against and asked him why he was eavesdropping on the conversation. The other said that he was curious and Ron didn't believe the answer so, like I said earlier he pulled his hood off of him."

She paused hesitantly as though she wasn't sure she was supposed to tell. As though it was a secret she had to keep, but didn't know why, "Go on." Dumbledore said soothingly to her as he peered down at her.

"After Ron pulled his hood off we were surprised that he had pointed ears."

"Pointed ears?" He questioned his face showing surprise.

"Yes, they protruded from his hair and stuck out like those of an elf's, but when Ron stated what he thought, the boy just replied 'not quite' he asked him than what was he… The boy said he didn't know and Ron got mad at him and basically called him and idiot for not knowing what he was. It upset the boy and he shoved Ron away and before we knew what was going on his cloak was pushed aside and we discovered he had wings and a tail."

Dumbledore looked baffled by this now, "A demon... and you said he was a boy?"

"I don't believe he was, he even denied many times that he wasn't one when Ron accused him multiple times for being one. He didn't take kindly to monster either," She said putting a pointed look in Ron's direction which caused the boy to speak up again, "as for him being a boy I assume so, for he looked like one but I couldn't be too sure."

"He is a monster he even killed someone before," He yelled.

"Did he? Did he say he did?" Dumbledore asked Hermione which seemed to annoy Ron as though the headmaster didn't believe his words.

She hesitated again before speaking, "Yes he did… But you didn't see the look on his face. He looked lost, scared, hurt, and sad I don't think what ever happened was entirely his fault. That it had possibly been a mistake and was eating at him because of it."

The room fell silent as Dumbledore thought this over, "He could have been lying, Miss Granger, if he was a death eater or murderer then it is possible for him to fool you with fake emotions." Somehow Hermione wasn't sure about that explanation, but it still made sense to her so she didn't push it.

"I understand sir," She said softly as he nodded at her answer.

"Please go on."

"When I stepped in and asked him about if he'd killed someone and answered in kind to it, I told him that I believed him in hopes he wound confide in me. I then proceeded to ask him to come with us. That you could help him, that he didn't have to do what he did, and you could steer him away from his path. I guess it was the wrong question to ask, because his words became harsh."

"And what did he say?"

"Well his exact word where, _'No! Dumbledore can't help me, he already tried and even then he was manipulative enough to destroy me'…_" A puzzled and confused look came upon his features again before smoothing out as Hermione continued. "I asked him what he meant and he was silent for a long time before Ron called him a demon again while demanding he answer my question. Needless to say it had the negative affect I explained before, and he lashed out verbally at Ron before his magic did. I got knocked back into Ron, causing him to drop his wand so he could escape and he did just that. He vanished before either of us could do anything."

"How did he escape?"

"He flew away sir," she mumbled softly.

Dumbledore hummed a bit at that as he sat back in his chair to think. Hermione looked over at him waiting to see what he had to say. When he spoke she wasn't so sure she was happy with the explanation or not. "I will have someone look into it and find out who he is by the descriptions you can give me, by the way what did he look like?"

"When his hair spilled from his cloak I could tell it was long by the few strands that escaped past his cloaks front. The few strands looked to be long enough to reach his hips, and his bangs covered his forehead and the tops of his eyes. On the left side of his face was a black tattoo that looked almost like living fire. His skin was pale white, and his nails were black I assume they are sharp judging by the looks of them. His wings where mostly jet black except for the tips which where a bright white in color. His tail was just as black and if it wasn't for the fact he was wearing blue jeans I probably wouldn't have noticed. On the tip of his tail was a spade shape, but it wasn't thin like a demons, it was a lot fuller and thicker like a snake's, or dragon's tail," she finished as she looked at him when he nodded.

"Very good… I will see what I can find," he said as he rose from the table, "Be sure to keep out of trouble again Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger. We don't want Harry coming back to know his friends may have gotten hurt."

Ron and Hermione nodded and looked as ashamed as they felt for the words. Knowing Harry would have been greatly upset if they had gotten hurt or even died. One thing was for sure, she didn't plan on getting into trouble again until Harry was with them once more. When Harry came back she planned on staying by his side as often as she could. Dumbledore left shortly after taking to Mister and Misses Weasley a bit longer. She wasn't sure what the future held for them all, but a foreboding feeling seemed to creep into her mind and she pushed it away thinking it nothing less than paranoia. She looked at the window realizing that the sun was already setting, and most of the sky was starting to turn black. She made her way to her and Ginny's room to sleep for the night.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Harry had flown hard and fast, till the city behind him was long gone, and until his wings ached so much that he could no longer fly. He landed in the branches of a thick tree that was able to support him as he sat amongst its branches. He curled up into a fetal position on the branch, his eyes staring unseeingly ahead of him as his thoughts reeled in a chaotic mess. He hadn't meant for any of this to happen, and his good day had been darkened by the angry face of his best mate and the frightened look of his friend Hermione. He buried his head into his arms and forced himself to sleep, and sleep he did. He slipped into peaceful slumber for one, and his pet Osiris lay around his neck in a comforting weight as said snake snaked his way up the back of Harry's head to prop his head upon his own. He didn't stop to think about what would happen now that they knew about his new appearance. Of course they didn't know it was him, but now he was a threat. A threat Dumbledore didn't want to have in the way, he already had Voldemort in the way, but having another was not acceptable.

* * *

_**Next Chapter- **The Seeker_

_**Well here is the second chapter, I hope you all liked it. Please R&R I would greatly appreciate it.**_


	3. The Seeker

**Hello everyone and Happy New Year!**

**Here is the next installment of A Shadowed life. I took an exceptionally longer time putting this one together for you all with fun little twists to get your gears moving. I am extremely thankful to those of you who have given me reviews and have encouraged me to keep on writing. It is exciting to understand what you all think about it. Even though at this moment I have only gotten ten reviews each one is very cherish.**

** Stardust of Orion: D: I know, and its not over yet. As for the first thought about what he is you'll see in this chapter -winks- As for the other we'll see when we get there won't we? :D -chuckles-**

** nemesisswan: I understand the outlandishness about the chapter before, but I plotted it out that way on purpose. With an upset Harry in a new body that does Merlin knows what anything could be possible at this point in time. Thank you for the your review though, I look forward to hearing what more you have to say on the following chapters from here if you plan to read in a bit more.**

** history: -laughs- yes I understand, but remember Ron is always suspicious of people especially when it involves Harry. Not to mention his little green jealous monster that often shows up as well. -chuckles- I hope you enjoy the next chapters coming up. I look forward to hearing more from you.**

**Well that is all for now I hope you enjoy this next chapter and I look forward to things you have to say about it. Enjoy!**

Things in the story you might want to know.

"Talking/ spells"

_'Thinking/ sound affects/ Memories'_

**_-Parseltongue-_**

**.:**Spells**:.**

* * *

**Chapter Three**- _The Seeker_

The halls were quiet when Barty apparated into the main foyer. Worm tail was there and looked to have been returning from where ever he'd been during the day, with newspapers tucked up under his arms as well as a book that their lord had no doubt sent him out to get. He sneered at the fat little man as he tried to look down on Barty, but he wasn't, so easily cowed as Pettigrew was. Barty brushed past him when his glare made the man finally cower beneath it. He swiftly made his way to the usual room where their lord stayed since gain the homunculus type form that floated around in a chair, in the manor. To Barty the man was a father figure to him, and he was one of the man's most loyal followers, other than Bellatrix, who was still being held prisoner in Azkaban. No matter what form the man took Barty would always come back and always be loyal to him. He smiled widely and Peter made a whimpering noise that only seemed to make the man smile impossibly wider. Upon reaching the door he'd been looking for, he paused and knocked on it. Waiting, for the voice of his lord, as it filtered past the thick door, even with how soft and raspy sounding it had been it still broke through the silence of the room.

"Barty, why have you come here? The school will be starting up soon," The raspy high sound of his voice filtered to him as he walked into the room with Pettigrew.

Barty went to one knee and bowed to him, followed by Pettigrew behind him, "My lord, Harry Potter has gone missing."

Voldemort's eyes narrowed and a hiss escaped his lips, "Tell me what you know."

"About a day ago Potter's safe house went up in flames. I don't know what happened to cause it, but the old fool was there along with a few Aurors. They did a big investigation on the matter and possibly know more about it then I do my lord. Among the bodies found though, only his relatives where identified. Potter was nowhere to be found," He informed him, still bowed.

Voldemort hummed silently in thought, his fingers tapping on his armrest silently as he sat there. Blood red eyes staring past the two before him as his mind wandered, forcing the two to stay kneeled in his presence. "It seems we will not be fulfilling our plans," He hissed out, "The resurrection will be postponed until further notice. However Barty I still want you going so as to not raise suspicions. They will likely believe the incident was linked to us, and returning Alastor Moody to them would be an unwise move on our part. We must not allow them to know that we in fact weren't a part of it. It will give us an advantage," He said contemplatively.

"My Lord I have other news as well," Barty said remembering what happened that afternoon.

"Proceed."

"I was in Knockturn Alley and saw a peculiar sight My Lord. A strange being, of one I've never seen before, and he fled the Alley leaving behind the flustered pair that usually is in Potter's presence. It wasn't all I witnessed My Lord. The being had great power and it was untamed and felt very lethal. If it wasn't for his reign on his emotions I am sure more damage would have been done. It was almost as though you could taste his power, it was… exhilarating," He breathed.

"Come here Barty, let me see what you have seen," He hissed out.

Barty rose and walked over to the hovering chair, before kneeling once more before it. He didn't hesitate to look into the lord's eyes as Voldemort delved into his mind to see just what Barty had seen. The other man made it easy for him to find, as the man pushed all, the lord wanted to know to the fore front of his mind. The memories started from the Potter's house, which made more questions rise to the man's mind upon seeing the destruction which took long to put out the flames to then, was necessary. It was definitely caused by magic, and very powerful magic at that. The memories shifted that following afternoon when Barty had been in Knockturn Alley. He felt the magic that had jolted Barty into taking notice of the confrontation in an alley way that was away from prying eyes. The feel of the magic that Barty felt was intoxicating. Like a wildfire that burned yet crackled like lighting and flowed vengefully like the tide and when it was gone it was like it left an impression so strong behind in its wake that you, couldn't not, get addicted to it. He watched at the being took flight without a second thought, taking its chance to flee before any harm could come to it. Slipping from the man's mind he watched as Barty wavered a bit from his intrusion, his face pale yet firm as he kept himself in check.

"It seems Barty, that you have discovered something I wish to gain for our side," Voldemort said softly. "But it may have to wait we will need to find a new way to bring me back to my body. Because you will be indisposed starting tomorrow and Severus will be dealing with the old fool," He said in a low hiss.

"My Lord I could get this person for you," Pettigrew offered, which only cause the man to glare at him.

"Pettigrew you couldn't possibly take on this rare being, you would be singed alive and left to rot. Your intelligence and capabilities are insignificant and would only cause more problems than I already need," He hissed out at him. "Now leave the papers and book Pettigrew and leave my sight. I do not wish to see you until I have need of you."

Pettigrew quickly stammered out a _'yes my lord'_ before leaving the items on a table and fleeing the room before the Dark Lord could do anything to him. Obviously not wanting to cause the man's ire to be turned on him if it became more apparent than it already was. He turned to Barty and ordered him to rise the young man did so and waited for what else his lord had to say to him.

"I want you to keep your ears open around the blood traitor and the mudblood. Listen for anything that could lead you to believing they may know where Potter is," He paused a moment in thought, "Also keep your eyes open for that boy you saw. If you get the chance to ever speak to him then do so." Barty nodded with his verbal reply, and left when he was dismissed.

Voldemort's mind wandered as he sat there, thinking of all he'd seen from Barty's memories of the day. What he saw made him think the creature was more along the lines of a demonic nature. The only problem was he remembered no such recordings saying that a demon done scales upon its person, let alone feathered wings. The Spade tail was a common trait of both Demons and Dragons. He was leaning more to dragon species, but couldn't not ever recall there being any books on sub species of creatures that used Dragon traits. Humming he made his way towards his library. His chair hovering as it left his study, and proceeded down the hall to where he was going. He was vaguely aware Nagini was now slowly following him to said room. Wandlessly he called books to his person when he got to the middle of the room. The books floating in a stack next to his chair as he started to flip through pages. Nagini raised herself up against the chair and made her way up the back side of the chair before sliding over the top to hang down next to her master.

**-Master, what are you reading now?-**

Voldemort smirked and stroked a few boney fingers over the top of her head, **-I am reading up on a new player in my plans my dear. A powerful player that could help us greatly, but I do not know what he is.-**

Nagini made a pleasured hiss as his fingers rain across her skull, **-He is not like master then?-**

**-No love he is not… or he may have been at one point.-**

**-I do not understand-**

**-It is simple my dear, there are many creature genes out there some as old as the elves even. Usually most reading material on them would disappear and not much will be known of them should they reappear. Say… an exceptionally strong wizard could accidentally activate a dormant gene within them and undergoes what Veela's call an inheritance. They gain the physical attributes of the appointed blood line. Unlike like the Veelas however they do not gain that when coming of age, it is simply a gene that has been diluted in the family blood line to the point that most wizarding families might not even realize it's there. Having forgotten their creature heritage like most pure-blood families of today, have done. From what I saw in young Barty's mind is that this bloodline may be an old one, one not having been seen for many centuries- **Voldemort put aside the book he'd scanned through for what he was looking for, and grabbed the next one.

**-If the creature blood is that old, then how will master find what it is?-**

Voldemort chuckled at that, **-Well my dear that is quiet simple. I had quite a large book collection, some even dating back to the elven age. Unlike most I would like to preserve the long forgotten knowledge that other wizards neglect to do. Thus, the reason why I am currently going through these stacks of books…-** He paused as he came across just what he was looking for. **–Ah here he is he is of the Dragonian Race. In elvish times they were known as Hakarmaskannar Nost or Hakarmaskannar Hin. Which roughly translated means Dragon Born, or Dragon Child. Depending to the magical bond created between dragon and human, was what determined how the child would look upon birthing. Wizards and elves alike did not mate in the traditional sense with dragons. It was the magical bond created between the two when a dragon gave their power to a race not, of their own. This bonding was considered dangerous and often resulted in the wizard or elf dying during the process. Not many took the chance in bonding with a dragon's magic, to ensure their blood line survived. Those who did had a strong bloodline and their offspring were often held in high standards. Most of this Dragonian race looked more like their dragon brethren. Later distant cousins looked to be more human in appearance, donning few dragon traits or even a stance between both dragon and human. As if the blood line had come to a balance of both traits. If the magic weakened as generations drew on, then later children would look human for generations to come, until one within the blood line, with enough magical energy, could jolt the dragon gene into coming forth…-**

Voldemort took this information in. He remembered that even some dragons where able to even speak in Parseltongue. More specifically The Chinese Fireball, The Peruvian Vipertooth, and the Norwegian Ridgeback. But even these dragons were distant cousins to their dragon brethren. The old more ancient of the dragon species as a whole have been extinct since around the time of the elvish era. It also seemed no known recordings of the families that had successful ties with the dragon bloodline were recorded. But there were recordings of wizards who showed powers to be that of dragon quality. Such as Merlin and Morgan le Fay, even though Merlin had helped pass this spell, the charm of making, to the witch only those with deep rooted dragon blood ties could actually learn it. For it was a spell of dragon mist, which was a powerful illusion spell and if used in poor taste the spell would drain you of your youth, which in the end had caused Morgan's down fall at her own son's hands. Wizards themselves considered Merlin and Morgan to be the first powerful wizards and witches of their time, but they were not the only witches and wizards out there. Around Merlin's and Morgan's time the ancient dragons had already died out years before they rose to power.

Voldemort petted Nagini's head silently, his finger nails scrapping just at the base of her skull as she hissed in pleasure. No one would have guessed that the exalted Merlin was none other than a dark wizard, just as Le Fay was a light witch. A smirk lifted to his features as he thought of the dragon boy he'd seen in Barty's brief memory of him. Yes, he would make a good asset. His eyes slipped back to the page before him of the species. The Dragonian race was known in later generations to mate normally like most wizards and elves did, and could still bare offspring no matter what the gender. It was probably a genetic trait the ensured the species survived even if they had no females. The only problem was dragons always had mates they mated for life, to keep their species alive. The Dragonians were no different, in that aspect. On top of this, dragons no longer did magic bonding with wizards and stories on that dying out were never found. Voldemort ignored the rest of the writing on the page, pretty sure he knew what else it entailed to before closing it and setting it back into its original resting place along with the other books he'd gotten down off the shelves.

Voldemort had missed one important detail that would have given more information away to the identity of the creature. A small section of recorded diluted blood lines, coming to dragon power, as young ages when the wizards or elves blood was growing in strength. The strength had to show at a young age or the possibility that they gain the ability is rather slim, let alone could be deadly to the host. Upon gaining this blood heritage they would be encased in a crystal egg that explodes when the inheritance is completed. Often burning everything within its approximate area. Leaving the room with Nagini still hanging from his chair he goes to his study to figure out how to gain the being to his side. He was also excited to know if the blood line it came from was one that was Parseltongue as well. As far as he'd known only he and the Potter brat knew how to speak it. It would be nice to know if another did as well, and he would love to speak with this being and tame it. One way or another he was going to make this creature his and force him into submission under his rule. His smirk he'd had on grew wider.

**-Nagini dear… I would like for you to search for him, seek him out for me. You will know him when you see him- **He said running his fingers over her head.

**-Yes master, would you like me to bring him back here?-**

**-If possible yes, don't force him… try and coax him to our side. I want him alive and well, he will be an important person to me-**

Nagini knew what that meant, someone important meant family in a way. Like herself felt to Voldemort though he was her master, and how Barty saw Voldemort as a father figure. **–It will be done my master-** She hissed softly as she slid from the chair to the air vent at the base of the wall. Nudging it open she slipped into it, her massive bulk vanishing slowly into the dark passage.

Voldemort tapped his fingers on his arm rest as he looked into the flames of his fire place. The warmth of it warming his cold bones. He could sustain this form, thanks to Nagini's venom, but he wanted a body. He needed to get things moving and with the Potter brat missing it wasn't going to happen any time soon. What had caused the boy to bolt like he did? If his death eaters were acting out without orders he was going to have to exact punishment on them when he regained his body. He made it clear the Potter boy was his to destroy, and no one else's. Blood red eyes stared unseeingly into flickering flames, something told him that something exciting was going to happen and he couldn't help but feel… excited, even though he didn't know the reasons why. His smirk, which had vanished at some point, returned with a full blown devious smile. Oh yes, things would get interesting and it would all start with the new addition he planned on acquiring to his army.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Harry woke to the feel of rain as it pelted his skin, and found Osiris had taken refuge within his cloak to protect himself against the cold rain. It was strange how the rain felt warm to him, probably because he ran at a higher temperature now. Leaping down from his branch he went in search for some shelter. He didn't know where he was, having flown away from Diagon Alley he hadn't really thought on where he'd been going. Only that he had to get away and not look back. Shoving his hands into his cloaks pockets, after having adjusted his wings and messenger bag back to their proper places. He trudged through the wet grass slowly keeping his cloak closed tightly to keep heat in for Osiris. It was at this point that he had a thought, and soon followed through with said thought. Why wander about from place to place, if he could just buy a place of his own? Sure there had been a plethora of potter estates, but Harry wanted something that just belonged to him. Something that no one other than himself knew about. With this newest mission set in his mind he went on his search for the perfect place to him.

Several days had gone by, and he still hadn't found a place he liked enough for him to live in. During his time alone Harry had come to a little understanding about himself. He loved acting the way he wanted to, with no restrictions or expectations put on him. When he was around others who didn't know him he found that he was more relaxed and able to just simply be himself. Back when he'd been The-Boy-Who-Lived, he had people always looking to him and expecting him to do something and act a certain way. Osiris was a big help in getting him to have more confidence about himself, and quite frankly he loved just being himself. He found that he also didn't view magic like most did, to him magic wasn't good or evil, only that the magic was used by people who thought what they did was in the best of intentions or had thoughts that most people didn't often think of and accept, while others might us magic with ambiguous desires. Though, he also found that there were many things he wouldn't and couldn't back down from. His beliefs in those aspects wouldn't ever be swayed. Such as the way muggles were viewed, sure there were some who feared the unknown and often reacted violently, but there were also those who wanted to know more about the unknown and held those who harbored special abilities with a higher reverence. It was the same thing with light and dark magic, those who were light users weren't always good, and those who were dark weren't always evil. Just like all muggles weren't just evil and had some that were good, so killing them, all off was pointless. Yes he agreed that having muggles knowing about the wizarding world was a bad idea, but they outnumbered them and even magic couldn't put a stop to everything muggle, like most wish to believe they could… not yet anyways.

During those days alone Harry had back tracked the best he could to Diagon Alley, for a wand other than the one he already had. He couldn't go to Ollivanders the man would know who he was as soon as he set foot in the shop. He wandered around wondering if there were possibly any other shops that sold wands around the place. He eventually came upon one in Knockturn Alley, with an older gentleman at the counter. He was possibly even much older than Ollivander was and to Harry Ollivander was pretty old. The man who ran the shop was named Robert Reece his shop was named after him declaring it Reece Creaks. Definitely a place you wouldn't expect wands to be made at. The place was dark, and looked dangerous from the outside, but inside it was warm and smelled heavily of wild flowers. It was without a doubt very deceiving to the eye, possibly giving you a false sense of security in an Alley that was so dark, and possibly dangerous. Reece was at his desk, writing something in a journal before him when Harry had popped in, for a look. The man's straw haid a bit shaggy in length and wild, showing he probably didn't often take care of it, even though he looked pretty cleaned up compared to some. The man's eyes were as blue as the sky and his sharp angular features showed he may be a pure-blood, or a descendant of one.

Now Reece was standing and walking over to him with an expressionless face, "How may I help you?"

"I am here to perches a new wand," Harry said to him.

The man hummed a few moments and looked him over before launching into questions, about how sensitive he was to magic, and what was the nature of it. At first Harry didn't know how to answer, and before his new change in appearance he would say his magic sensitivity was like any others. As of late he's been seeing a few things that he never used to, such as peoples auras and other magical things he hadn't seen before a few days ago. At first he'd thought he was just seeing things when everything seemed to settle down during the day. Though, as the days had gone by he'd noticed that there were quite a lot of things that were different than before. Obviously this new appearance also had something to do with his magic, but he still had yet to figure out what. The books he'd purchased several days ago didn't help, but did help with taking care of Osiris and his needs. The young Tiger Snake was a had full when he had energy to burn, and being stuck around Harry's neck most days was helping Osiris to stay calm for longer periods of time, let alone help the other understand what patience meant. He shook his thoughts away before he answered.

"Well my magic sensitivity is a bit unknown to me, but I seem to see auras more clearly and that their emotions are attached to it in some way. As for my magic's nature I am unsure, though in the past I had noted it was a bit wild and strong," He said truthfully.

"Hmm your sensitivity is rather powerful in one so young… Magic is wild and powerful… possibly even destructive and very much untamed," He turned from Harry and walked down the many isles of shelves stocked with wands.

Harry watched him vanish amongst the shelves, allowing his mind to wander as he thought about the past few days. He'd been searching for the right place to live. He could easily pass as being eighteen though, he wasn't. The change to his form had taken place when he was passed out for three days in a crystal like egg, while the magical ones started to gradually get stronger as the days drew on. He wasn't sure exactly when that would all end, but he hoped it wouldn't be very long from now. Out of the other books he'd bought in the past several days he had started working on some potions to help him with his physical appearance. The potions where he had to create perfectly and often some of them even exploded on him. Without a proper potions lab he'd had to make do with what he had without using his wand. He didn't want to use the Phoenix feather wand without being in a place he knew it wouldn't be detected, which brought him back to the housing matter, and trying to create wards for it. He had read up on some of the books he'd had on warding and they sounded pretty complicated, but he was determined to create his safe haven. The only problem is now he needed a wand to help him create them, since he didn't know how to cast very many wandless spells yet. He didn't dare use his own wand, in fears that the ministry would be able to trace it. He didn't want to be found just yet and judging by Reece Creaks, the wands here didn't have wand tracers in them. That meant that not many people ever shopped here and these were wands the ministry knew not about, considering it was in a shady area and the fact other wizards wouldn't, especially dark ones, wouldn't say a word about it either.

Harry's eyes wandered around the room, to the dark grey walls that at one point had been white, to the wood panels that lined the lower half of the wall. The room had a few display cases featuring some trinkets that were under lock and key as well as some blank parchment scrolls stacked like a pyramid on top of a table alongside some unbreakable ink wells. It seemed the man also sold a few other things beside wands. Possibly because not very many people came there for wands. It was around this moment while in the middle of his musings he sensed something. His eyes glanced around the room yet he couldn't pin point where the sense that something was very close by was coming from. He was about to walk about the room to search for the presence, but paused when the man came back with three different wands for him to try out. He set down the three wands on the desk and beckoned Harry over.

"Hover your hand over them and tell me what you feel, when one calls to you," He said to him, his blue eyes watching Harry silently as he did so.

The first one made Harry's hand jump back and away from the wand he'd hovered over. His eyes warily looking at it as he stood there. It had felt as though a snake was there instead of a wand. As though the piece of wood would slither away or strike at him in a moment's notice. The man chuckled at his reaction and Harry looked up at him wondering just what he had felt, his questioning gaze fell on Reece. The man quirked a brow at him, noticing the look he was getting.

"I suppose this… magic sensitivity is something new to you then?" Harry only nodded, not wanting to go into detail. "New to it and still so young… you are indeed a gifted child," He cleared his throat, "The wand you retracted from was an Ebony Coral Wand, the flexibility is unyielding and the length is twelve inches. It is more inclined to be better suited with those of rounded abilities with elements. Those who resemble one strong element won't be suitable for this wand." Harry took this all in before looked back at the others in thought.

Harry allowed his hand to hover over the second wand. What he felt made his spine shiver with the cold deathly feeling he got and his fingers trembled, slightly before moving to the third, which warmed his hand like a roaring fire, yet felt natural and comfortable. It felt natural to him and he reached down to pick it up. It felt nice to hold and comfortable just as he thought it would and his magic flowed freely through it without much of a problem if any at all. His eyes looked questioningly up at the man and he saw the smirk that was lying upon the man's lips. Harry wasn't sure why but he didn't understand what was so amusing, was it his reactions or was it what the man knew about the wands? Either way he was soon about to find out since the man seemed to be ready to tell him about the wand he held.

"That wand you hold is an English Oak wand with Dragon Heart string, it has a supple flexibility and is thirteen inches," He said as he picked up the other two, "The wood of that wand was said to have been the same type of wood Merlin used for his wand. It is a very picky wand that only chooses who deserves its power. Often those with courage, strength, and fidelity are able to wield it. It is also the opposite of the Holly wand. Holly is only harvested when the year wanes, will English Oak is harvested only until summer. There was an old saying long ago that people associated with these two wands. The saying is this, _'When his wand's oak and hers is Holly, then to marry would be folly.'_ Though often many wand makers find that saying baseless," He smirked. "As for the other you trembled at it is a Cypress wand with Thestral tail hair and is reasonably springy. The length is nine inches," He thought for a moment before speaking again. "The Cypress is a wood that is said to be associated with Hades it is a symbol of death as well as an emblem of grace and joy. Coupled with the Thestral tail Hair for those who've seen death."

Harry wasn't sure why the man was telling him this so he asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

The man looked at him and deliberated for a moment before speaking, "It may be because you have been my first customer in days, or the fact that I want to tell you, because you will understand the meanings and relations of the wands and their cores. But I digress, for it is just my wanting to let a curious mind know," He smirked again.

Harry blinked at him and wasn't sure why but he wanted to roll his eyes at him like he would do to Malfoy. Shaking his thoughts away he took what the man said at face value and questioned him no more before paying for the wand and thanking him. As he turned to leave he heard the man bid him a nice day and Harry did the same before stepping out of the store. It was at that moment he remembered the odd feeling he'd gotten while in there. Glancing back at the store he wanted to go back in and investigate, but held himself back from doing so. Whatever it had been obviously hadn't stayed inside the building though. Considering now he had his eyes scanning the buildings around him, and he blinked slightly a few times annoyed that he couldn't pin point what it was. His thoughts wandered at that point, making a good distraction to move on to Flourish and Blotts again to buy more books, but first he decided to stop at Borgin and Burkes. He remembered the stop from the time he'd gone there by sheer accident when a miss pronounced word sent him diagonally into Knockturn Alley instead of Diagon Alley. Shaking his head of the event with a fond smile, he looked straight at the hand he'd got himself tangled with when he'd been there last. His eyes slid away from the object to the many shelves there. It seemed the place had a decent book collection as well. He ran his fingers over the spines of the book before plucking a few from where they were. He turned to the other objects in the store that he couldn't find at others and picked up a few of the items he found as well before walking to the front of the store and placing the items on the counter where Mr. Borgin was standing there waiting for him to finish up. It was then at that moment he noted a rather thick book, with odd symbols on it. It wasn't the fact that it had silver metal snakes lining the corners, but the fact that he could read what the cover declared it to be, **–Parseltongue Mages spells-** and to say Harry was shocked was an understatement. It was obvious who'd ever sold it to the man had not known what it was for it wouldn't have been there if that was the case.

"Sir, I would like to get that one as well," He said pointing to the book behind the glass display case.

"I'm sorry but you couldn't possibly afford it so…"

"How much?"

"Three hundred Galleons," He said and Harry gave him a look that told the man he didn't believe him.

"I doubt that because that book isn't in a language most people can read. It is considered a dead language for a reason and those who do read it are very few and rare. Now Mr. Borgin how much is the book worth since it is basically un-purchasable and no collector would want it because they honestly can't understand it," Harry said his slitted eyes narrowing on the man.

Borgin looked at Harry his eyes narrowed dangerously causing the man to swallow thickly at the dark look he was getting. Harry was a very intimidating person when he wanted to be. Borgin spoke shakily as he answered him, "Its fifteen galleons sir." Harry nodded and added fifteen galleons to the amount needed for the other items he was purchasing from there.

Harry picked up the items after opening his messenger bag, placing each one in the right compartment. Harry had sorted through the things he'd had in his satchel on his journey to find a place for himself. Now all that stayed in his satchel was his original wand, his invisibility cloak, the marauders map, and his money. The day he'd had his confrontation with Ron and Hermione he'd gone to Gringotts and had made a withdrawal of five hundred thousand Galleons, three hundred thousand Sickle, and four hundred thousand Bronze Knuts. Which was roughly two million five hundred and ninety-one thousand dollars, which for Harry wasn't much of a dent in the Potter vaults, but was more than enough to get him through what he needed. Once Harry was done with placing the items in his bag he gave Borgin a smirk before leaving the shop without another word. It felt funny to be the intimidating one for once and Harry liked it. At one point he probably would have thought he hadn't had it in him, but it was there none the less and he liked it. Smirking he started to move on to Flourish and Blotts without another stop in between. His smirk faded when he noticed a few faces he recognized where out and about that day. Arthur and Bill Weasley, Rufus Scrimgeour, and Lucius Malfoy, and out of those few three of those people, were people he hoped not to run into today. He'd been away from Diagon Alley since the incident with Ron and Hermione. There was no doubt in his mind that Mr. Weasley and his eldest son, had found out about what had happened. If Dumbledore knew then so would the Aurors. The only safe one to be around was Lucius, but then again the man didn't like him for the loss of his house elf, Dobby. Which, now that he thought about it was bad, for they had to serve wizards. Yes many of them were treated poorly, but those who gain freedom slowly died off. Without someone to serve their magic killed them and it worried Harry that Dobby may one day die.

He had felt horrible when he'd found that out, and hoped he could find a way to help the poor elf and for all he knew, it would be a lost cause. Mentally sighing he walked into the store, and let his fingers glide along the spines of the books before him, picking out many he knew he would need, may need, and might not need, but would take them anyways because they seemed interesting to him. He had a nice big stack of books going when he decided he had enough and started on his way to the counter. It was unlucky for him however to bump into Lucius Malfoy, who was there for a few books his son had inquired about to him. Harry dropped everything and he noticed the books scatter everywhere causing Harry to sigh. He bent down to picked the books up one at a time, honestly forgetting he had a new wand he could use to do that with. Though, this had become a habit for him since being raised in the Dursley's house.

"I apologize, sir, I didn't see you past the stack of books I was holding," Harry said to the man. Though, he was oddly surprised when Lucius bent down to help him, which seemed so out of character to him. Then again he'd only seen the man being snobbish and every bit the pure-blood he declared himself to be. Snapping out of his shock he went back to stacking the books again.

"It is quite alright mister…" The man paused as a silent inquiry to his name.

Harry had to quickly think up a whole new identity for himself, and hadn't really been prepared for it, but none the less did so with little pause on his behalf. "Black, sir, Orion Black," he said offering his hand to the man as a gesture of greeting, which Lucius shook out of politeness.

"A Pure-blood then? I thought the only living Blacks around were Sirius, Bellatrix, and my wife Narcissa," Lucius said, who obviously knew much about the Black family line.

"Yes, my father was the great, great, grandson of Marius Black. Since one of Cygnus's, and Violetta's son came out a squib he was stricken from the family tree, my mother was of a Japanese pure-blood family, called the Fukuoka family. She had been visiting Britain at the time he met her, and they'd fallen in love… she passed away the day I was born. My father, raised me after that with no mother figure in my life, his name was Volans Black. He died before I was eleven, while I was in Japan with him," It was a good story for his back ground and no one would question it. "I was adopted into several Japanese muggle families while still in Japan, the last one being a wizarding family and I just recently moved here from there. My mother had been the last of her line and hadn't planned on dying young so never drew up a will. So I never inherited the family fortune, and my father never did the same either. However, the family I had been adopted into was also a pure-blood Japanese family, and allowed me to keep my Black name in honor of my father. They helped me open my own vault and put a generous amount into to support myself with. Since I didn't take on their name however, I wasn't allowed to inherit the family fortune. So what they gave me is all I will probably ever get," He said giving himself a pat on the back for thinking that quick explanation up. Since Lucius didn't live in Japan he did not know many people from there let alone pure-blood families that were there as, well.

"Really now? But you don't even have the traditional Japanese accent for having lived there for several years," He said as Harry picked up the stack fluidly before walking to the counter.

"Well I just have the impeccable ability to go from language to language without root language interference," He said smirking, mentally wondering if the sorting hat would not insist that he be, placed in Slytherin for his sly maneuvering of the topic about himself. Even if he tested to see if he was a Black or not, the Potter line in his blood had Black family blood in it as well, but from what he had learned from letters between him and Sirius is that at the time of his birth his father had given Sirius permission to have Harry as his heir as well, having not expected to have a family of his own someday. So they had performed a blood inheritance that caused Harry to be a Potter and a Black, giving him the ability to be of both houses.

"Hmm interesting," Lucius said softly as he watched Harry place his books on the counter and start paying for them.

It was during this time that Lucius went silent as he thought over the new information about _'Orion Black.'_ Now that Harry thought about it he decided to go to Gringotts later and do what he told Lucius that he had a vault under the name Orion Black and transfer some of the Potter funds to it. Then he would leave the Potter funds untouched in case the ministry tried to keep track of his vault though, he was pretty sure the goblins wouldn't say anything even if they did. They were notoriously known for being tight lipped and keeping things confidential. He would have to get in with Ragnok to get this done. Since he didn't look anything like what his fourteen your old self looked like any more than it should be easy to do. He would have to create a document allowing the Potter vault to transfer the funds to the Orion Black vault he was to gain. It was a full proof plan, since he'd gained the key to the Potter vault when he was eleven. The story would stick because Lucius would have no way of tracking the information down, the records having been lost around the time Marius disappeared from the wizarding world.

"You said Marius Black was a squib correct?" Lucius asked interrupting his thoughts. Somehow Harry didn't like where that was going.

"Yes," Harry said sidetracked as he pulled out money to give to the bookstore owner.

"Then how… pray tell, are you a wizard then. It is my belief that squibs can only have more squibs or muggles," He said looking at Harry suspiciously.

That had not been something he counted on being asked, but Harry quickly remembered a study he read on squibs recently and had been looking into it when he got the change. Seemed now he would have to do even more research on the subject if this was to help him out at all. Harry only politely smiled as if Lucius had missed out on something, which in all honesty was true.

"A squib who marries someone of a weaker blood line could have muggles or squibs yes… but Marius didn't marry another blood line lower than that of a pure-bloods. Since he was a Black he was determined to keep the blood line pure. Though, Britain seems to think them being the lowest in the wizarding world, other countries do not think as such. He married another pure blood family outside of Britain. Their children ended up being magical like his family before him. You see the belief that Squibs hold no magic is false, and squibs do hold magic but are incapable of ever using it because a trait in the blood line has blocked it. Because of inbreeding this block often happens in pure-blood lines, whether it is blood and magic rejecting each other remains to be seen. You see even muggleborns or _'mudbloods'_ as pure-bloods here call them, descend from families that had squibs that married into the none-magical world and eventually produced a magic baring child." He was feeling smug now with keeping this up the way he was. It wasn't a lie per say just facts and his, own thoughts on the matter, "So in other words the blood to my family is still pure regardless of what people would want to believe."

Lucius looked flabbergasted and if Harry wasn't pretending to be the pure-blood he was claiming to be then he would have laughed hard at the man's facial expression. "Interesting Mr. Black…"

"Please call me Orion," He said to him.

"Okay, Orion, I did not know such thing was possible. I apologize if I insulted you, can I ask where you heard of this," Lucius asked.

"There is a well know written research book on it here at Flourish and Blotts. It was originally started by a wizard doing research on it in Russia, with his companions. They had been curious about how muggles could bare magical children. I read up on it, and decided to research it myself, and have been making some gradual progress with it myself, that is proving the words in the research book to be true," Once again truth, but with a little white lie mixed with it. "If you would like I have a copy of the book on me I could give you. I had bought two in case I miss placed the first at the time. Since, I research out of my house and home often."

"That would be most appreciated Orion, I thank you for your hospitality," Lucius said as harry fished the book out of his messenger bag from the compartment he had his books in.

Harry handed it to him after his books had been paid off, as well as the ones Lucius had come for, so as not to get it mixed up with the purchasable materials. He walked out of the book store with Lucius close behind him. He felt odd for having the pure-blood so close, but oddly enough he didn't dislike it and felt actually a bit happy the man wasn't glaring at him and shunning him like he had when he was the Boy-Who-Lived. He wondered how the man would react if he knew who he was. Probably not even the least bit in a good way, and he prayed the man wouldn't find out any time soon. He preferred the man get to know him now as Orion Black rather than Harry Potter. Maybe then he would see him differently and not be so prone to jumping to killing him when the time came. Harry was about to walk away towards Gringotts when both he and Lucius were stopped by none other than Scrimgeour and the Weasley's. Lucius curled his lip up at them and Harry felt himself tilting his head down to hide his face from view, which Lucius caught but drew no attention to the fact.

"Hello Mr. Malfoy," Said the gruff and burly voice of Head Auror Scrimgeour.

"Hello Scrimgeour, to what does this occasion bring you here?" He asked the man.

"Just on the lookout. There was a reporting that a known murderer was around and we need to apprehend him as soon as possible. We are checking any suspicious persons to be sure," He said pointedly glancing at Harry.

"Obviously you cannot think my associate here to be this person, since he just arrived from a long trip this morning from France. He is very tired and was just about to stop by Gringotts to get some matters sorted for me," Harry couldn't believe the man was lying for him, but none the less he felt grateful for it.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to accuse him, it's just he bought quite a large stock of books from the store you were both in just now," Scrimgeour said as the Weasley pair kept looking at Harry, who had lifted his face up to look at the man.

He currently had a glamour covering his tattoo, and his eyes were glamoured to a steal grey color as well. Having put the glamours on before even coming to Diagon Alley, though his other abnormalities had yet to be dealt with. He needed to find stronger magic to deal with those and hopefully the Veela books would help with that. For now though what he did for his minor markings was enough. His hair was also braided and tucked into his cloak out of sight so judging length would be impossible. Clasped to his left ear was a earring clasp the fit snugly against the length of his ear. It had a powerful glamour on it that even Finite wouldn't be able to get rid of, and only he could remove it. This, however, only hid his elven ears. Even so, he wouldn't risk them seeing his hair in case they suspected him of using glamours. Sure it had only been a couple of days, but he had literally taught himself to do glamours wandlessly when at the Dursley's to cover up his worst marking so as not to draw attention from neighbors of the savvier abuse he'd been under. It had saved the Dursley's hides and his own from anymore abuse, during those harsh times. He'd gotten even better now that he had to hide his new appearance issues, but still not strong enough to take on the task of his main issues now. It had been a spur of the moment idea that morning to glamour his eyes a steal grey color which worked for the whole I'm a Black story with Lucius earlier.

"Well it sounded as if you were, and as for his spending habits it is none of your concern. He is a researcher in his spare time, and likes to experiment and create things," Lucius lied smoothly, "Is it a crime to buy so many books when it's for research and experimentation?"

"No it isn't, I am sorry for this matter sir," Scrimgeour said to Lucius. Then he turned to Harry, "I also must apologize to you as well Mister…"

"Orion, sir, Orion Black."

"Black?" Scrimgeour said with confusion across his face, "There aren't any other blacks other than Narcissa Malfoy, Sirius Black, and Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Yes, I had explained that to Mr. Malfoy when I first met him," Again true, but not the whole truth. "It is true that the main Black family branch lives here in Britain. My family ties come from Marius Black, a squib. Since squibs are ranked low in the wizarding world of Britain and are therefore considered close to muggles he was stricken from the Black tree and sent away. Marius was a Black first and foremost and fought hard to keep the pure-blood line even if his family thought him not to be. Under research of a Russian Wizard by the name of Vsevolod Golovin, it has been significantly proven through his research that the fact that squibs producing offspring with magical abilities could happen, regardless of the wizarding world's beliefs. Often if the bloodline is a strong one squibs can have magic born children, it is the only reason why muggles can even produce muggleborns, because at some point in their heritage a family member had once been a pure-blood squib. Basically filtering out the inbreeding until the blockage of the bloodline is no longer as restricting to keep producing squibs or muggles. It was luck that my great, great, grandfather Marius Black married into another pure-blood family outside of Britain that did not judge that he was a squib." He smirked, "His first child, a son, was magical as was his daughter. So far each generation has had magic. The subject of squibs has become one of my many research projects, and the mystery of how muggles produce magical children. I find it fascinating as much so as the fundamentals and basics of pure magic. Such as magic sensitives' for example," He smiled, "Their abilities to see things most other witches and wizards can't. I have a firm belief magic works in a way that connects to why some witches and wizards' birth squibs."

Bill seemed to be as interested as Arthur was and Harry felt a voice inside his mind jumping for joy that his fundamental thoughts on the subject was helping to gain a way out of his current dilemma. "You believe magic is causing it?" Bill asked

"Yes and no. For reasons I have yet to pin point I believe that it may be a combination of both magic and the constant in bread relations, though I have yet to delve into the topic as of late. I have been quiet busy and Mr. Golovin's research doesn't say too much on the matter which I believe is because he isn't running on much funding," He said to the Weasley's, he barely was able to notice that Lucious seemed to be amused.

"Yes, you have been Mr. Black, now if you would excuse us Mr. Scrimgeour, Weasley's," Lucius said as he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and steered him away from the three, and towards Gringotts.

When they were far enough away Harry spoke up, "Thank you Mr. Malfoy."

"Call me Lucius… now tell me, why you are hiding from them," Lucius asked him.

"Okay, well Lucius I ran into a snag a couple days ago and accidentally listened in on something I obviously now think I shouldn't," He sighed, "A young redhead cornered me with another young witch. They had been speaking about some young man called Harry Potter," He said looking up at Lucius once they'd stopped moving after entering the front of Gringotts. "At the time I was… emotionally compromised, and was unprepared for what took place. I ended up divulging too much information I shouldn't have and now I guess they are searching for me," Harry said looking away and to the goblins. "I really don't need this right now, and though I have just gotten here, I have yet to find a suitable home for myself. I have been living in motels in the muggle world, and quiet honestly I don't want to be there."

Lucius quirked a brow, "Why not? I am sure they are cheaper than wizarding ones."

Harry bit his lip in thought, _'Should I tell him? I am starting a new life and I am determined to make things different now than I had with certain things in the past. Who knows Lucius might be different than what I first thought him to be.'_

"Well….I have… a certain condition that I recently came into. An inheritance of a sort. When I hit the age of fourteen I was… changed… in ways that is hard for me to hide. I have been researching ways to deal with it so I can live normally amongst both muggles and wizards, without it being known."

"You're not a werewolf are you," Lucius's hushed tones came out so no one nearby could hear. Having dropped to the same tone he Harry was using the whole time when speaking with him.

"What? No! Of course not… if that was the case I would find a pack to join, but there is no category for what I am… I have yet to even find a book out there that can even tell me. From what I can tell it's been a long time since something like me existed."

"I don't suppose you can show me can you?"

"No not hear anyways… not with people out there looking for the me, that has already been seen," He said as he looked around to make sure no one from the Auror group had followed them. His new steadily growing sensitivity powers came in handy to even make sure no one under the notice me not charm, or invisibility charm could sneak up on them.

Lucius nodded, "I offer my home as a safe house if you wish to hide."

Harry's thoughts stopped at that. Lucius was offering his home to be his as well. He knew this could be a trap, that he could be offering to one day gain his trust so he would join their cause. Harry wasn't sure he wanted to just yet, for he didn't know their cause, and if rumors were true than Lucious was a death eater. He came to the decision that he would stay at the Malfoy's house while he searched for a home of his own. He sighed, for he knew it was the best he was going to get and he knew he would owe Lucius for this so he decided to get to the point.

"What is the catch?"

"Catch? What makes you think there is a catch," Lucius said with a smirk.

"Because one thing I know about pure-bloods is that they always do something for a reason and often expect something in return if it benefits them to do so," Harry said caution etched into his features.

"Well then I will have to break it to you, that the catch is only me getting to see this real you. Since I am opening my home to you, I think it would be great compensation for me to see this form of yours. I am quiet curious to see what it is, and since you are giving up your peace of mind to show me, then it is only suitable to allow you safety with my family at our home when you need it," He said reasonably.

Harry couldn't believe his ears that Lucius had actually made a valid excuse. Not to mention the man had caught on that he'd been ready to show Lucius his…what he now called his….true form. It was an equal exchange and Harry knew it. Biting his lip he nodded and looked to the man, the fake steal grey eyes seemingly searching to make sure it wasn't a trick. Experienced with reading people because of his life living with the Dursleys', it had helped him to gain a perspective to read people. His resolve strengthened and he nodded his head again, but this time in determined resolution.

"I accept Lucius, but I will not be staying long. I still plan to find my own place before long," He said to him.

"Of course I expect nothing less. I assume you have business with Gringotts to pass your vault from Japan to here?" He asked going back to their causal conversation.

"Yes, it won't take long. Where should I meet you?" He asked the man.

"Meet me at the entrance to Knockturn Alley in about a couple hours, that should suffice for the time you will need here," He said as he looked at Harry.

Harry nodded, "Of course, I will be there before the time is out."

Lucius smirked, "See that you do."

Harry just smirked before walking away from Lucius who he could feel watching him even as he moved away, until he no longer felt the scrutinizing gaze. He sighed with relief was he got up to the front desk. He spoke with the goblin there and told him of his business before he told him to sit down. He waited for a long time and Harry began to wonder if maybe they had forgotten about him. It was a little past the first hour when the called him back there to see Ragnok, who immediately started to throw questions, which Harry expertly started throwing them back with answers of his own and written documents of a new vault plus fund transfers from the Potter vault. The signature on the paper was a blood signature that Goblins knew if it was faked or real. Since blood signatures could not be copied or duplicated without the exact magic core signature along the blood on the page, the document would not be disputed. Setting up the vault and transfer funds was a long process, but it went smoothly and he believed he'd gained a new friend in Ragnok, because of his polite behavior and use of the Goblin etiquette when introducing himself to him. Upon finishing up he departed from Gringotts with a clear mind and a clear track before him. He went to find Lucius and was on his way to Knockturn alley when he was practically tricked by something in the middle of the ground. Blinking in confusion he looked down, wondering why no one else had tripped on whatever it was. Curled up in front of him was none other than Nagini, and Harry's eyes widened as he looked at her.

**-My master asked me to seek you out and speak with you. Will you listen, hatchling?- **Nagini hissed at him.

Harry was about to speak when he noted Lucius heading his way having seen the boy almost fall from where he'd been and was now looking puzzled down at Nagini. Confusion and surprise flitted across his features as he approached, taking note of the dark lord's familiar. Harry did a small nod before whispering his answer that he knew she would hear.

**-I will listen, but I will be unable to answer until we are properly alone-**

**-That is fine… I shall go with you to the blond haired ones place-**

Harry nodded and fell silent as he bent down to scoop Nagini up. At first Nagini was about to snake herself around his shoulders before she scented the other on Harry hidden beneath his cloak, and instead wrapped herself around the other fellow serpent instead as Osiris stayed silent and out of view. Since they were closer to Knockturn Alley not many wizards would recognize the serpent and if they did they said nothing about it. Lucius came upon them complete shock on his features. He had never seen Nagini allow another to hold her, unless she'd been ordered to for missions in the past.

"Do you know whose snake that is?" Lucius asked softly.

"No, but I figured we could at least give her some warm place to stay and some food. Besides Osiris would like a companion."

"Osiris?"

"Oh I forgot I never told you about him," He pulled the edge of his cloak down to reveal black banded tiger serpent, lazily wrapped around his shoulders silently. His head laying upon his left shoulder, with his eyes unblinking as he watched Lucius from where he was. Lucius was surprised that there had been a snake there the whole time, and if he remembered right that particular snake was poisonous, so how could this boy even forget that it was there?

"You are a rare person indeed Mr. Black," He said dropping his first name as a way of being serious about his comment. "You had one of the world's poisonous snakes around your shoulders and you forgot it was even there? Not to mention that you weren't at all defenseless were you?'"

Harry only shrugged a bit, "When I first got him he was a bit antsy, but now he's more patient. Being stuck around someone's neck almost every day does that to a being." He joked a bit, "Anyways, it seems like this beautiful lady will be joining us. Shall we go than?"

Lucius nodded and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder before apparating away from the immediate area to the Malfoy Manor. Nagini was now feeling pleased with herself, the little seeker having found her target and doing now as her master ordered. She would coax him, and goad him into meeting her master at last. She looked forward to the days ahead, and something in her told her none of this would be easy. Harry on the other hand had no idea where his current path was about to take him. In the end, all Harry cared about now, was that he could finally be himself with no inhibitions or expectations of any kind for the time being.

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**_Next Chapter_**_- Darkness Whispers_

_**Well everyone that is it for this chapter. I hope you all all Having a Happy New year and are enjoying the time for count down tonight. Looking forward you the R&R's, and wishing you all an awesome new start to the year. See you all soon!**  
_


	4. Darkness Whispers

**Hello everyone lovely Readers**

**Here is the next installment of A Shadowed life. I really love you all I do, the reviews keep coming and those who do I feel over joyed to read. I would love to hear more from my readers, though. I do realize that I can't expect everyone to review, but it's a little disheartening when very few review and usually about one out of every hundred viewers actually gives a review. None the less those of you who have thank you from the bottom of my heart. You few really inspire me, truly you all do.**

** tdjs: Thank you. Well Harry had been out of the Wizarding world for several days. So I think those days would be enough before Nagini would find him. She is a very smart serpent after all right? Instead of wasting her time searching the muggle world for him. Why not just hang out where most wizards of Britain would go? –chuckles- As for Lucious I had been unsure at first, but I decided it best to go ahead and do so considering that Harry really did need a cover story since he planned to stay in Britain. **

**As for the way it all started with the egg and all. I got the idea one night upon reading Descent into Darkness, and Death of Today by some other Harry potter fanfiction writers on here that I fell in love with. I had actually been tinkering with several Ideas and came to this one after reflecting back on other stories by other fanfiction writers and what they had already done. Since there has been quite a few other were-wolf, vampire, Shape shifting, and neko fanfictions, I wanted to throw something new into the mix. Come up with something people hadn't thought of, while I researched about Merlin and Morgan le Fay. Though most people referenced a lot of the works from folk lore and fairytales I referenced a movie called Excalibur. It helped to get this story the exact back grounds I wanted and to move it into a little more believable setting. So to anyways, to hear you liked it makes me happy I stuck with this whole new idea.**

** noelnoel2: It is okay, those are old anyways and really believably out dated in a sense. I haven't written much of anything on the others in months and had been thinking about dropping them. Though, I don't think the readers for those would like that so I promised them I would try and post new chapters for them that would lead to a conclusion for a possible sequel. I myself am not fond of authors who drop a good story and don't seem to try to get back into the swing of things. Thinking of myself doing so made me feel horrible so I made them a promise to try and finish them. Often amazing stories have been ruined by the authors of them dropping the story and in some cases passing them onto another writer, whose style pales in comparison to the original owner of the story. But anyways my style now is possibly greatly different from those stories, now.**

**The story though… I had deliberated for a while on how I was going to do that or even if it was even going to happen in the third chapter. Though I think it all settled in nicely. If maybe even a bit rushed on my part. Sometimes I just get overly excited about a story and things get kind of tangled before the smooth out again. **

**As for getting a beta, I wasn't planning on it but a viewer suggested I do so and have been thinking on. I'm usually self-conscious about my works. I am an all-around artist so criticism is sometimes hard for me to accept. Both in written works and drawn works. I mean it's kind of bad enough that I harshly criticize my own works on my own. Though, it does help me to understand what people like and dislike none the less. **

**And the dragon facet… I haven't really thought much into the aspect of a dragonized personality, but I like the idea of it and thank you for saying something about it. It would definitely make for some interesting situations for the characters to go through. **

** Scknookums: Yeah it was a bit forced and rushed, but that's how I wanted it. You see Harry just wanted it all done and out of the way. So why not just explain it without the tedious questions that may have come out of it? –Chuckles- **

** GarionRiva: Thanks, I always thought Harry could have been smart and have more potential then what he was portrayed in the real storyline. So I decided to do just that in this one. As for his inheritance, I'm debating on that revolution still. If anyone has ideas I'm willing to listen to them. His mate however…-smirks- You'll see who it is when we get there –chuckles-**

** The many others complimenting the story so far: Thank you all for your reviews, stating that you like the story or are so full of excitement that you wish me to post soon. I have been keeping a steady pace at creating the story since, December 28****th**** and I think this story was exactly what I had needed to pass the time in my life right now, since school term is out and won't pick up the new term in a couple more weeks. Thank you all for the expressed love of this story. You fill my heart with joy when I see those few words.**

**Well that is all for now I hope you enjoy this next chapter and I look forward to things you have to say about it. Enjoy!**

Things in the story you might want to know.

"Talking/ spells"

_'Thinking/ sound affects/ Memories'_

_**-Parseltongue-**_

**.:**Spells**:.**

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**Chapter Four**- _Darkness Whispers_

Harry felt the nauseating feeling as though he'd been placed in a spinning vortex before being solidly placed on the ground at a dizzying rate. He'd never apparated before and to tell the truth he wasn't so sure he was all too fond of it, though it was greatly useful when traveling long distances. Then again he thought his new form allowed him to travel faster than normal wizards and people anyways. With his new for he'd taken notice of his more enhanced strength and the enhancements to his senses, such as touch, sound, taste, hearing, sight, and awareness. He was also to think more clearly and rationally then he used to, and when he did certain things it was almost instinctual and natural as though a hundred generations worth of information layed within him, just waiting to be tapped into at a given moment. With those adjustments, he also took note of his faster healing rate as well, let alone that his magical core was growing, albeit slowly, but still growing even past what he'd been at. In all honest truth he felt as though he _'could'_ go head to head with the dark lord if he had too. He hadn't tested his bodies' latest limitations, but something told him he wouldn't be tired out as easily as he'd been in the past.

He was snapped out of his inner thoughts when the hand on his shoulder steadying him gave a small nudge for him to move forward, before the hand fell away from him as Lucius started to walk. Nagini seemed to be blissfully unaffected by what had just happened. Obviously completely used to being apparated about like a metaphorical rag doll. Osiris on the other hand was hiss groggily, sounding something like _'Was that necessary'_ and _'Master I like your flying better'_. Harry just reached up and stroked the top of his head silently as they moved from the entry hall to the inner rooms of the manor. Lucius was silent as the moved past each door they came across until they reached double doors that lead into a lounge area, probably used for small family get-togethers. Lucius let him walk into the room before closing the door. When he turned around he looked at Harry, who was looking about the room in silence. Taking in the house for all its glory. He was amused earlier with how expertly the boy danced his way around the topic that had been about him and had turned into in to lecture of sorts. The boy looked eighteen, yet at times didn't not act the age he portrayed himself to be. At times Harry would act like an older person, with knowledge that far surpassed many, while other times he would act like he was much younger than eighteen entirely. It puzzled Lucius to say the least. By the boys story he should be eighteen or close to it at least. He could also possibly be even sixteen and emancipated by both muggle and wizarding communities. This boy was a conundrum, and Lucius was going to figure out the enigma that _'Orion Black'_ was.

"Now that we are in private away from the crowded streets of Diagon Alley, shall we proceed?" Lucius said to him which gained a light nod from Harry, yet he was also hesitant.

Sighing Harry watched Lucius as he stood waiting for Harry to show him what he was hiding. Turning his back on Lucius, which in some part of his mind it was screaming for him not to do, he Slipped Nagini, and Osiris, from his neck one at a time. Nagini curled up next to Osiris both silently watching everything as it unfolded. He slipped the cloak from his shoulders, revealing the wings that were there. The back of his shirt had been altered by Harry himself just so his wings could sit comfortable while wearing a shirt. The whole in the back of the shirt also showed the black scales that glistened lightly in the lighting of the room. His shirt was made in a way that the lower part of his shirt hugged his body loosely, and the hole in the back was crafted in a wide circle that allowed his wings room to move when he needed them to without discomfort. At the area where his neck was, a buttoned clasp was there to keep the top of his shirt in place. It was also sleeveless showing of thin arms as he did so, yet lightly muscled. At first the black material of his shirt blended in nicely with his scales, because of the silky look to it. But on closer inspection you could tell material away from scales. Harry unclasped his shirt neck button to show the scales and where they were in mass. His tail unwrapped around from his black slacked pant leg and allowed it to sway comfortably behind him as his wings stretched a bit. He waved his hand over his features to allow the tattoo to appear and his steel grey eyes to vanish. He was taking a risk doing that, and would pass off the change in eye color being because of the appearance change. Reaching up to his left clasped ear piece he mumbled a Parseltongue word under his breath so Lucius couldn't hear it. The clasp fell away and his ears pointed elven ears appeared once more. During all of this Lucius had moved forward to inspect the appendages after having gotten over his initial shock of it all.

At first Harry though he would have gotten the same reaction he'd gotten from Ron and Hermione. That all flew out the window when the light touch of Lucius finger tips ran across his scaled shoulder blades. What he hadn't been prepared for was his own reaction. His breath hitched and he froze in place, causing Lucius to freeze as well. He hadn't known his scales could be sensitive, let alone that he could feel anyone touch them as though it was his skin they had touched, yet it also felt more intense as well. Harry shivered before forcing himself to relax.

"I apologize… I was not expecting that to feel so… intense," He said for lack of a better word for it.

"What do you mean?" Lucius said about to draw his hand away yet thought against it before absently running his fingers along one of the scales in wonder, marveling at the iridescent color.

"To put it bluntly it feels like skin to skin contact, just a couple times more sensitive. I hadn't known that I could feel anything with them. It might just be because they are attached to my skin now, but I can't be too sure," Harry said to him.

Lucius's fingers trailed away from the scales to the base of his wings. Harry had expected what he felt next. His whole wing system was a mass of nerves, and it was possibly the most sensitive thing on him. Even more so then other parts of his being, and that included the feeling his scales had given him moments before. Harry's face flushed a beat red color when those fingers stroked his feathers, which, to Lucius, felt softer than any feather he'd ever touched before in the past. Harry's wings trembled under the light pressure of the wings, causing Harry's breath to shudder, before those fingers decided to explore beneath the feathers to the scales holding those feathers in place. Lucius's tough was professional, as he explored Harry's wing, testing the flex of it and asking if he could stretch the wing out to see the length of it. To say Lucius was fascinated in this rare inheritance was an understatement. The man was for lack of a better term thorough in his exploration of his wings, scales, feathers, and tail. The tail thing on the other hand was another experience on its own, possibly the second most sensitive place on his being as well. When Lucius was done prodding at everything on the length of his back Harry turned around to face him, allowing his wings to be minorly tucked behind him. Lucius breath caught and those fingers that had been on his back moved up to his face to take the intricate patter on Harry's left side of his face. Lucius's hand flinched back slightly at the notable difference in heat from Harry's skin and the mark itself. His fingers gently came back to trace the pattern to the half crescent flame that encompassed the left half of Harry's eye area. It was at this point that Lucius looked him straight in the eyes, noting the vast color change and the pupil that was vastly different from any he'd ever seen before.

"What happened to your eye color?"

"This is the color this form holds," Harry said simply, making Lucius assume whatever he pleased.

"Hmm so that means the inheritance changed your eye color, and you use glamours, to go over the vivid color and odd shaped pupil, and interesting not to mention odd tattoo," He mumbled before pulling away seemingly in deep thought.

As Lucius moved away thinking deeply to himself Harry buttoned the collar of his shirt back into place. Covering his scared pale skin from view once more, not liking the thought of being half naked before the older Malfoy. Obviously Lucius had been so engrossed in his inspection of Harry's new adornments that he hadn't notice the oddly scarred body that he had. To be honest Harry was happy that Lucius was done with his inspection now. He'd felt way to weird having the man touch him like that, almost like he was a pet, that or he we in a very intimate moment. Not to mention the feelings it elicited in him when the man touched his wings and tail. To say those parts of him made his easily aroused was an understatement. If it wasn't for Harry's ability to keep himself calm during the inspection, he was sure he would have an embarrassing problem and would have probably made a sound that Harry really hadn't wanted to let out.

Harry watched the older Malfoy silently before he heard the door open and looked over to see Narcissa Malfoy peeking into the room. Harry figured that the wards alerted her to the fact that her husband was home as well as a visitor. She looked about ready to speak before her eyes landed on him. He watched as her dark eyes widened in surprise, completely caught off guard. Lucius looked over to her then back at Harry. He obviously hadn't expected Narcissa to walk in on them, with Harry's secret exposed out in the open on Lucius's house. Though, it was bound to happen sooner or later, Harry guessed sooner was better than later.

"Narcissa love, this is Orion Black," Lucius introduced him to the woman and her eyes seemed to get impossibly bigger before they narrowed in on Harry.

"That's not possible," She said looking at Harry, "There are only three Blacks alive right now, and I know them all."

Lucius chuckled, "Obviously you do not, because young Mister Black here is from your family bloodline. More specifically Marius Black to be frank," He said watching his wife's expressions.

"Marius? The third eldest, to one Cygnus and Violetta Black? I thought he was a squib, so how is it, even possible his decedent is a… magical being?"

"My dear it looks like you and I will be reading some new interesting research. For mister Black has introduced me to this book," Said man picked up the book Harry had given him earlier that day. He'd obviously put it down before inspecting Harry's wings, scales, and tail. "It seems our thoughts on squibs being magically stunted is less then true then when we first thought it to be. Young Black here is a product of something we all thought couldn't ever possibly happen, and yet it did."

Narcissa looked to Harry, and Harry didn't at all flinch at her scrutinizing stare. He was actually used to it, from having to prove himself to people who had always looked to The-Boy-Who-Lived. "He does not portray the Black's eyes, but he does have some of the features," She said softly.

Harry was infinitely happy that Sirius had done the blood inheritance with him when he was young, or would have never inherited some of the features he was today that were close to the black blood traits. The only thing is, is that before the change he had looked a bit more like his father James Potter. It seemed whatever he'd gone through had favored the Black genes more than the potter genes. Yet he still contained his mother's green eyes. Harry's wings flexed and she looked to his back where they were still propped up against his back. His tail lay heavily against the floor a bit, the spade shape flush against the rug the layed across most of the wood floor. He could see curiosity in her eyes about this form he donned for she'd never seen one quite like it before.

"Mrs. Malfoy," Harry bowed politely in greeting, "This form is one I have acquired at the age of fourteen." He gestured to his appendages as he spoke once again letting her assume his age was more than fourteen upon his looks, now.

"Oh, really? May I ask what you are then? I don't think I've seen anyone undergo and inheritance like yours before," She asked curiously.

"That my lady, is something I myself have yet to find the answers too. I haven't come across any book, scroll, or tale that can explain what I am," He said softly looking down and away. Suddenly reminded of the words his relatives had called him. In truth he really felt like a freak now. He was neither wizard, nor creature, and this form had no written works on it so far, and for all he knew there were none. Obviously whatever emotion that had appeared on his face Narcissa and Lucius had caught, for one moment he was standing alone and the next Narcissa had her arms wrapped around him and Lucius had stepped closer, yet didn't touch him.

"Do not look that way," She tried to sooth, "What could possibly be going through that head of yours? What brought such emotion to your face?"

"I-," Harry hesitated, "I was only thinking what I thought was true," He bit his lip in thought.

"What might that be?" Lucius asked.

Narcissa had backed up so Harry could talk, but Harry didn't look up at them, "Remember when I told you, Mr. Malfoy, about me being an Orphan after my parents had passed away?" Harry had looked up at him, and Lucius nodded though looked puzzled, "The family I had before the last one that adopted me was… a muggle family." Harry looked away when he saw the look of donning horror on his face. "I was often called a freak, a demon, and a monster. Among many other names that I really, don't wish to voice, right now. Though, those words… weren't the only things that occurred with these muggles." His wings shifted and tightened against his form, "I was just thinking that now… now I am a freak. That what they said was true."

This wasn't happening, this couldn't be happening, but it was and there wasn't much Harry could do to stop it. Sometimes he hated his emotions and right now was one of them. He didn't want to feel what he was feeling, and just wished he could have felt detached rather the sorrowful like he did now. He could feel the prickle of tears as they burned the back of his eyes, and how they traitorously slid down his face as he kept it turned down and away from the two Malfoys'. His hands hand come up to grip his upper arms, where scales layed, harshly when he felt as though his thoughts were about to rip him apart. Suddenly he wished he wasn't there, that he was some place far away so no one would see him like this and at some point during these thoughts Narcissa had enveloped him in a warm embrace, and had gently navigated him over to the couch so he could sit down as she held him. Harry closed his eyes and tried to calm himself as he heard comforting words coming from Narcissa. Soft gentle words full of warmth.

"Hush now, you're not any of what they called you," She said softly as she rested her cheek on top of his head. "You are you nothing, more or less. You are just a little different that is all, it does not make you a freak, and it does not make you any less human than what you are, do you hear me Orion," She said softly and Harry only nodded still trying hard to calm himself. Narcissa pulled away and lifted his chin before gently stroking the teas away from his face, "Now look what you've gone and done, you ruined your beautiful face." She said teasingly, getting a slight smile from him and she smiled back, "There's that smile, now how long are you staying my dear?"

Lucius spoke up this time, "Orion just recently moved here from Japan and is currently in need of a place to stay. So I offered him to stay with us until he finds himself a suitable home to say in."

"Oh! Such a long way away from your home land, but I'm surprised you have no Japanese accent," She said to him.

"I am rather good at language barriers, so hanging on to an accent when speaking another language is less of a problem to me," He said to her, once he'd finally calmed down enough to speak.

"Well then, I hope you enjoy your stay here. If there is anything you need anything our house elves would be glad to assist you," she said softly and Harry gave a slight nod to let her know he'd understood what she'd said.

Osiris curled up in Harry's lap, which started Narcissa and Lucius on the topic of the young Tiger Snake. It was during this discussion that Lucius said that the Tiger snake was a protected species in Australia, and if anyone exported them that it was illegal. Harry laughed at that, saying he'd had no idea that the snake was illegal and somehow it didn't bother him in the least. It was more of a joke for him and Osiris now that they were already together. During all of this Nagini was quiet, she watched them all silently as she listened to the three chat. Though she stayed quite close to Harry almost a bit motherly to the boy and to Nagini's mind he was already family if her master took such great interest in him. Harry ended up discussing quite a lot with the two Malfoy's, mostly about himself which he'd mixed in really life details about his muggle family, and the fake facts of his life outside of Britain. In all it wasn't that hard since, having lived in the muggle world he had learned a lot about Japan, from having been to muggle schools, and from a few other sources. Things continued that way for a while before Lucius had to go back to work, and Narcissa went to go plan a few things for upcoming parties the family had planned on doing earlier in the year. Leaving Nagini alone with Harry for the rest of that time of the day, and Harry was about to learn that the dark lord was out to get him. Not for his death, but for his allegiance with him on the dark side of the war.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Voldemort stared down at the parchments before him and the books he had strewn out along the edges of his desk as he drew out his new plans for revival. Nagini came back every so often to give venom to keep her master in the form his was in. Pettigrew had been the one to harvest her venom and the snake delighted in making the man squirm when she got the chance. She'd told her master that she had come in contact with the boy and that he called himself Orion Black. He felt oddly about that, but didn't voice it as he had listened to her the rest of what she'd had to say. It seemed the boy was not adverse to the proposition to be a part of his dark army. But he did have questions he wanted to ask the dark lord, yet at current the dark lord would not meet with him until he had a body for which to do so in. Though, no matter what he did he couldn't find a suitable spell to do so with. If only the Potter brat had been found then he wouldn't be having this problem. Already a month had gone by without a word on the boy's whereabouts. Barty had informed him that the brat's friends knew nothing and the blood traitor was getting a bit pushy and head strong about things to the point he was picking fights with Slytherins. He was however glad that this Orion Black character was staying with the Malfoys'. If Narcissa hadn't thought him to be a black she would have forced him out of their home calling him a liar the first chance she got. Regardless on if he was offered a place to stay with them or not.

It was during his research that he came upon a ritual that could help to gain his life back. Though, as he looked over the ritual he knew that he would have to make a great number of adjustments to it to get his desired affects for it. The plan would need the blood of a creature he desired, the blood of a powerful wizard freely given, and the blood an immortal being unwillingly sacrificed. He didn't know which immortal being he wanted and that in itself was going to be hard to come by, and he didn't know of any powerful wizards other than Dumbledore, Lucius, and Bellatrix. Dumbledore was a no, since the man would never help him and Voldemort would refuse him even if he'd offered. Lucius was a possible source but didn't want the man to feel that he was special, and Bellatrix was currently in Azkaban. It was at this point his thoughts turned to the dragon boy, Orion. The boy was indeed powerful, from the memory he'd gotten from Barty that day, and Judging by what Nagini said about his training days he was sure that the boy could do so much more with proper training.

His fingers tapped the desk silently as he thought to himself. He'd seen Nagini's memories as well, and having someone who'd been close to the boy had given Voldemort al he needed to know about the boy from another's perspective. He felt off about the boy on the other hand, having thought he'd seen those eyes before. Even with, whatever change he'd under gone, he felt as though he personally knew the boy from somewhere and it was eating away at his mind all the same. For several weeks he had sat in thought about the boy since the first day Nagini reported to him. He knew by now that Lucius suspected that he'd returned with Nagini's constant presence and disappearance, yet hadn't sought him out yet. Which, he was amused with because he knew the man was already scared for not having sought him out before he'd returned. He needed to see the boy, and he decided now that he would do so and Lucius would join him there at the manor. It was the only way he would get the boy there since he did not know how to apparate and he wouldn't send Wormtail because he was unworthy to do so. Barty was at the school being his hidden spy for the time being and he would not pull him out in case he was to be caught. He couldn't have that, not this late in his plans.

"Wormtail!" He called out for the man, who he knew was there in the manor somewhere.

The man peeked into the room as he came into it, "Yes my Lord?"

"I want you to write to Lucius Malfoy. Tell him I wish to see him, and the one who calls himself Orion Black. They will have to the end of this month to be ready to come and see me is that clear?"

"Y-yes my Lord," Wormtail stuttered out.

"Now get out of my sight," He said as said man skittered out of the room like the frightened rat he was.

A month was enough for him to get everything he needed ready, and given them enough time to mentally prepare themselves for their meeting. Voldemort oddly wondered how this would all turn out, and something within him just didn't sit right with the thought of the boy named Orion Black. In the memories he'd seen the boy seemed hesitant to accept his proposal to join him, but not adverse to it. Nagini had asked questions that he himself had told her to ask him, and as of late Voldemort would slip into her mind to see him and feel his presence. This magic was startlingly addictive, and being in the presence of it made him want, more later when he was away from it. In a way though it felt awfully familiar, more power full yes, but he'd felt it before, when it was weaker than it was at the moment. It was frustrating not to pin point it and he was bound and determined to figure out where he'd felt it before, but for now he would wait in silence.

Sitting back in his chair he closed his eyes, knowing Wormtail would be to cowardly to come back anytime in the near future without his saying to do so. He slipped into his mind to the link he'd magically created with Nagini, to watch through her eyes to see Orion again. Nagini was curled up on the couch speaking with Orion's familiar Osiris. He'd been surprised at first to see a deadly snake other than Nagini around the boy. It seemed that his thoughts of the boy being a Parseltongue were true, but Orion kept it hidden from everyone except Nagini, and Osiris. Voldemort knew only because one time, like now, he'd entered Nagini's mind and heard him talking to her and Osiris. It also seemed the young Tiger snake was a suitable match for Nagini, if it wasn't her constant trying to flirt with him that gave it away. Nagini looked for strong mates and she didn't care who they were as long as they were of the snake lineage. It wasn't a bad fit either for Osiris was a beautiful specimen and very much just as deadly as Nagini was. He was a snake you never wanted to tangle with, and even though Voldemort had enhanced her he k new in a battle of pure power that they were evenly match regardless of how young the tiger snake was. In the course of a month the snake had grown in length and had yet you reach his max length.

Nagini finished up her talk with Osiris when she sensed her master was present within her mind. Her head turned towards the boy who was currently working out. He was doing what muggles call physical training, and at the moment he was in the middle of doing push-ups, in the middle of his borrowed bedroom. What caught his attention however, probably more so no then it would have, was that his appearance was much different now than he was a few days ago. Where his wings and scales would have been was now a black intricate tattoo. The tattoo was in the shape of wings with small crescents indicating where his scales would have been It seemed was though a thick line of black going from his lower back, near the tail bone region, swung over to his right hip to trail downwards beneath the sweat pants he wore. Possibly indicating the likeliness of his tail, and he oddly wondered if the tattoo wound around his right leg like the boy tended to do to keep it out of the way. After he was done inspecting Orion's latest work on hiding his appendages, he took note of some raised skin on the boys back. He stared intently as he tried to make out what was on the boys back with all the ink there, and what he found angered him. In big thick almost bold letters on the boys upper back was the word _'Freak'_ a word he'd heard often in his days at the orphanage. Nagini's head wavered at the strength of her master's anger and he felt her inquiry of what had upset him, and he soothed her worries away as he calmed himself. Someone had marked the beautiful and strong boy and a grotesque way.

Now that he wasn't focused on the boy's tattoo, he took note that most of the boy's appearance was covered in scars, ranging from thick to barely noticeable. It spoke of years of abuse, and from the conversations he had with the Malfoys' he knew the boy had also been an orphan, raised by muggles. Orion shifted after he'd finished with push-ups and turned over to use the base of the bed to hold his feet down, to do some sit-ups. The boy's thickly braided hair fell with a thump to the floor before he finished positioning himself and started the exercise. Absently Voldemort watched the boys muscles ripple under his skin. He had to admit the boy was taking good care of himself since coming into Lucius's, and Narcissa's, care. He was still on the scrawny side, which was a possibly side effect from living with muggles for a long period of time. He did have the black qualities, albeit it a few. He had the dark black hair, and the sharp Black family features, but that was where it ended for the boy seemed to prefer the green eyes over the glamour steel grey ones, and for some reason the steel grey just didn't look right on him. It was at that point that those previously green eyes flashed through his head but on the face of another person rather than the boy before him. What he saw in his flash of memory was Lilly Potter, her bright green eyes as she had begged for the life of her son.

Snape had asked him to spare her life before he'd gone there, and he'd warned Snape that if she got in his way he would not hesitate to kill her regardless of his promise to spare her life. Now why did she appear in his mind when he thought of Orion's eyes? He never once thought that the reason for the boy's eyes being green was because of the change he'd gone through. He'd simply stated that it was the color his form held, and he did not specify if it was the recent form or what he'd always had regardless of the change or not. It was at this point those green eyes in his mind change from Lilly's green to Harry's Avada Kedavra colored green eyes, and it startled him a bit before he shook such a though away. No, it couldn't be Potter since this boy Orion looked nothing like him. He looked more a black then he even did a potter, so it wasn't possible wasn't it? Somehow he felt a bit uneasy about the thought. If it was Potter then why would he hide from everyone he used to know? Why would he literally make himself disappear and rewrite himself a whole new life, just to cover up the one he's lived four fourteen years? Fourteen… That rang a bell, and an alarmingly big one at that. He receded from Nagini's mind and flicked his wrist upon being in his own body once more, calling forth the book he'd read about a month ago about the boy's appearance. He flipped to the page and read over it, this time he read the entire thing without pause. His reason was because of the age that the boy had changed. The day he'd vanished had vanished on his fourteenth birthday, and the memory of those vivid green eyes, coupled with the report of what had happened at the muggle house the boy had been living in.

Within moments Voldemort was grimacing, frowning down at the pages before him as he took note of the passages that he'd neglected to read over earlier. Only at first having been interested in the back ground of where his creature side had come from and the traits of the creature. He remembered the house Barty had seen that had once housed Potter's relatives and how unnaturally long it had taken to put of the fire that was still burning what remained of the area the house had been in. Voldemort leaned back in his chair as he thought to himself. His boney fingers placed in his lap as his thoughts wandered. It was too close to ignore that the one named Orion Black should appear the day after the Potter house incident. A lot of the boy's explanations he'd heard through Nagini were well planned out and he wondered if the boy had thought long about what he'd use as his cover story, or if it had been spur of the moment and laced with facts that the boy knew. In any case the boy had deviously and successfully created a plan an executed it with very little problems to get in the way. In fact if Voldemort hadn't figured it out, he would have probably gone through life with no one noticing. Now the bigger question was his motives for doing so. His mind flickered to the boys wounds, and his mind flamed hot with anger again though he knew not why. Why should he be angry that the Potter brat had scars? That was an easy question even he was reluctant to answer, because if it was true then all he had thought about the brat was wrong. Not only that, but he couldn't trust Dumbledore's way of thinking anymore, fore he was sure the man kept sending him back to that house even after he knew what was going on. Voldemort's jaw clenched as he looked at the pages before him in thought about the boy.

He'd definitely been beaten, and from the look of it, it had been an ongoing ordeal possibly even since the day he was brought to that families home. Voldemort wanted to know what had happened, he wanted to know more, and he was going to find out one way or another. His wind wandered to another issue. It didn't seem that the boy hated the dark arts, for he'd out right asked Narcissa and Lucius to teach him what they knew of the subject about a few weeks back. Something had planted a seed of doubt in the boy, and that something made him see magic in a different way than most would think of. The boy obviously didn't trust Dumbledore, and Voldemort could fault him for not doing so. Even in his newly acquired form Dumbledore had turned the whole wizarding world against him. The day the Prophet came out with that was also the day that they announced Harry Potter to be missing. To Dumbledore this new Harry was an obstacle and one he had to remove from the equation and fast so he used what little information the boy's friends had given the old fool. The article had given very little and the woman Rita Skeeter, pronounced that there was little evidence to go by other than word of mother from a mudblood and a blood traitor. Even though it was very little evidence the people of the light obviously trusted the information and firmly turned on him. If they had known it was Harry would they perhaps have reacted the same way? He didn't know. He closed the book before him and sent it away back to its shelf, before thinking some more.

No, he knew how they would react. Their savior would be considered dark and they would turn on him and say that he was only deceiving them all. The lights Savior would be labeled a traitor and probably would have been tossed in Azkaban, even if the boy had said it was an accident. The boy had a huge darkness within him that was for sure. His training in the dark arts under Lucius and Narcissa proved it with his ease in learning the spells. Then again the boy seemed to excel at many spells, not just dark arts spells. Voldemort slipped back into his mind again and into Nagini's once more. This time the boy was sitting on his bed legs crossed and a book was placed in his lap, as he flipped on page to read the next. Nagini was up on the bed with him and Osiris seemed to be absent. She was asking him questions that she often asked him and he would whisper them to her to keep from being too loud, so Lucius or Narcissa wouldn't hear. At one point she got a personal question in which, caused him to pause in his reading. He closed the book revealing the cover and that he was reading about wards.

**-Nagini… I'm going to tell you this because I trust you just as much as I trust Osiris with this. To me… you're more of a family then the one I had was for me. But I'm not who I say I am-**

**-What do you mean?-**

**-What I mean Nagini is I'm not Orion Black… no matter how much I wish to be and that what I spoke of in the past were true. To tell the truth I didn't have a family, mine were killed a long time ago by the man who you call your master. Though, I do not blame him for their deaths anymore-** This surprised Voldemort more than his recent discovery. **–You see… my actual name is Harry Potter. The very boy Voldemort seeks to destroy. Honestly if I had a choice to meet him again I think I would let him…-** Voldemort was stunned silent, even his magic seemed to still at that declaration and he could feel Nagini prodding at him as if to ask If he was okay. She wouldn't strike Potter unless he told her too, and right now he was very much interested in what the boy had to say.

–**You see I can't trust Dumbledore anymore. He kept sending me back to a home which held people who hated my very existence. On top of that, when I thought back to old scenarios involving me and Voldemort… some of what took place just didn't seem right. Nothing made sense as though that shouldn't of taken place. Like someone had been invisibly guiding us to that path, and usually when I run into a confrontation I know I can't handle I always run, yet when faced with him it was as though my personality did a one eighty and I found myself standing against him. To tell the truth I felt more… I felt as though I shouldn't be fighting against him. Like I'm supposed to be with him, but there are many things he does that I can't agree with. He hates muggles… all of them. I can't say I'm fond of them either, having seen the terrible side of them most of my life. Not all of them are horrible though, I mean Hermione's parents aren't like that. Even if he did try to kill them all it would reveal them to use sooner than we would want them too, let alone the fact there are a million more of them then there are of us. Their atomic bomb could wipe us all out regardless of the magic we wield.-**

Harry fell silent as Nagini positioned herself into his lap. It helped to sooth Harry as he started to run his fingers over her head and he could feel the bliss she head floating around her head as Harry petted her, causing Voldemort to chuckle at his familiars antics. **–It also brings me to another situation, he believes all muggleborns are just as bad as muggles themselves and are dirty with their magic. In truth those muggleborns come from a squib from a pure-blood family. The wizarding world is so stuck on their prejudices that they don't realize that those squibs still have magic, they just can't access it or use it because of a defect in the blood and that locks the magic away. Since those squibs are forced out of their families they are forced to go into the muggle world, and when they marry a muggle, after a few generations, a magical child is born. It occurs this way because the blood thins out without the in bread defects in the bloodline. Causing the off spring to sprout from the muggle world and I believe that if we killed them all off… we would inevitably be killing ourselves off as well. You can't always have a pure-blood family, because in the end the lines would become so entangled that eventually the line would come down to one and the line would die out. Without the squibs mingling with the muggles, those new witches and wizards would never be born, and those of the wizarding world would dwindle and vanish. Because, a true muggle cannot, birth a magical child on their own and they are incapable of doing so because they have no magic-**

Voldemort thought over these words for a long moment while Harry was silent. Obviously, thinking over his words before he spoke again. He was surprised with the boy's thought process on the matter and it was obvious he'd taken a long, time thinking about it and researching the subject. It seemed the boy had a brilliant mind and he wondered if it was his time alone that got him to thinking, or if it was the fact he was no longer under the influence for people who might have been trying to stunt his mental development. Somehow Voldemort wouldn't put it past the old fool to do just that. In a way Voldemort was considered Dumbledore's greatest mistake, and now he believed the boy would be another mistake he hadn't meant to create. He forced himself to focus again when Harry started to speak once more.

**-I don't hate the dark arts Nagini, and I don't hate him, or the Dursley's for what they did to me. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think Dumbledore is the one to blame for this all. Something tells me it's his fault mom and dad died, that Voldemort came after me, that I had to constantly live with the Dursleys', and that I keep feeling as though I'm being forced to face Voldemort when my whole being says I shouldn't be. I don't think I can be a death eater. I don't like being what they are to him, and if I can avoid it then I will-** Voldemort quirk a brow at that did the boy expect him to be an alley without his mark to show for it? Did he think himself to be his equal? Surely not… no, Voldemort didn't have any equals. Harry was just another piece in the chess game called war. Yet the odd feeling in him told him otherwise, and he squashed it down before it could make him think it was right. The boy was strong and he wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to have the boy for himself. Dumbledore had made a grave mistake for treating the boy as a weapon, and Voldemort wasn't going to allow himself to make the same mistakes he did. The boy seemed aware that the man was manipulative and he himself made it known he was using people. Voldemort on more than one occasion had sensed Nagini's fondness of the boy, and judging by her memories the boy acted different than from the memories he had of the boy. He seemed freer and happier now, maybe more of the person he was born to be rather than forced to be.

**-Nagini… do you think he would kill me if I told him who I am?-** Nagini was silent and didn't say anything since Harry wasn't finished speaking yet. **–Do you think that he would kill me as soon as I told him who I was? That he would laugh as he watched the light drain from my eyes, just like I watched Aunt Petunia's light drain from hers they day I became what I am now?... I didn't mean to kill them, but I can't say I hadn't thought of killing them myself. Sure I don't hate them, but I hate what they did to me. They broke me in many ways… even some that I think even Voldemort would cringe at the thought of.-** He didn't like where this was going not one bit. It seemed the boy had lost himself in his thoughts and was just pouring all his dark little secrets to Nagini. At some point Osiris had come back and layed curled up at the end of Harry's bed silently, watching his master and listening just as Nagini was.** –Yes, they physically, mentally, and verbally abused me. But it wasn't all that happened behind the walls of that house-** Harry's hands were trembling, he could feel it in the way Nagini reacted to it and looked at the boys hands before looking up at him. The steal grey glamour was gone and sorrowful green Avada Kedavra eyes looked fit to spill crystal liquid from them.** –Nagi' he raped me…-** White hot furry raced through his veins at those words. A child… a CHILD had been hurt in a way that shouldn't have happened. Rape was an offense that even Voldemort abhors, and to a child no less was something he just couldn't condone. His anger shattered though when those white hot tears fell from his face onto Nagini's scaled skin. The abnormal warmth to the liquid a testament to his altered form, and Voldemort felt his chest twist in an odd way. In that month of spying on the boy through Nagini, he couldn't seem to help but be fond of the boy. It was an odd feeling, and that odd feeling was quickly pushed aside before he could think about it. **–It started when I was ten… Uncle Vernon had been drunk and aunt Petunia was out with some friends having brought Dudley with her, leaving me alone with him the entire day. Before that day it had been light touches here and there when my Aunt wasn't looking. I had been confused and frightened and that night when he took me… it hurt… it hurt so much and I cried for him to stop, but he never did. Afterwards when he was finished with me, he beat me and then through me into my room sullied and broken. Though, I doubt you could call a cupboard under the stairs a bedroom. Nagi' I felt so horribly filthy, and I couldn't wash away the filth as it dried into my skin.-** Harry's eyes had closed by this point, the memories of that night seemingly still fresh in the boys mind. It had only been four years since the first time it had happened, and he was about to find out that it happened often even later as he grew. **–When I was let out again… I washed my body as hard as I could, but I could still feel him. On me… in me… nothing I did could get rid of the feeling of him being everywhere on me. It didn't stop there… It happened more frequently when I received my letter from Hogwarts… Summer had become my worst nightmares. I had even told the headmaster, but he didn't believe me. Said I was over reacting and just trying to gain attention. After several failed attempt in telling him though… I stopped. There was no point in doing so. I used to think he didn't know, but I know better that he did. I found out through the prophet that my baby sitter was a squib and a part of some group Dumbledore created. That she had said she noticed nothing unusual from the house, and yet never once mentioned that I lived there. As though I didn't really matter, and maybe I don't… I don't know. Though, they never stated the group's name in the paper. Can you believe it? I was so shocked to discover the woman I disliked was none other than a spy for Dumbledore. Who knew all along what had been going on in that house, and yet did nothing to stop it. When the sessions got worse, he stopped caring that my Aunt could hear him. Stopped caring if Dudley was just down the hall… he always yelled at me during those times anyways. So I guess they thought he was beating me like he always did. He is also the reason I had the word **_**'Freak'**_** carved into my back at the age of eleven.-**

Voldemort's anger was burning by this point. He knew the old man was a bastard and a deceitful, manipulative old man. Out of everything he knew though, this took the cake out of all of them. Harry's eyes were open again looking at Nagini as he petted her head with shaky fingers once more, forcing himself, to calm down and bottle those emotions up once more. At this rate the boy would break and break hard. **–I never told anyone about it other than Dumbledore and even then he didn't know as much as I'm telling you Nagi'. Not my friends… no one. I guess I've always been alone, and there wasn't anyone I could ever trust. Dumbledore spouts words like love, can defeat Voldemort… but how love defeat him if I don't know what love is? You can't count the people I call my friends, because that…isn't the love I crave. That is just friendship, a bond between people who find similarities in one another. A fragile bond that could shatter easily… Friendship is all about trust and I never trusted them enough to know me or anything about me. So what is love? Is it the love Narcissa showed me several weeks ago? What a mother would give to a son? She has often confessed to me that I feel like one to her, even though she thinks me to probably be eighteen and not fourteen-** Harry swiped his arm across his face to rid himself of the tears that still slowly trailed down his cheeks, as he started to calm a bit. **–I wonder what he would say if he heard me now… I doubt he would care. After all I'm just a pawn in a chess game for him- **Those words felt eerily like those he'd thought of just moments think the boy thought as he did was something he hadn't expected at all. **–He'd probably think I was pathetic wouldn't he? I wouldn't put it past him. I mean in the few times I'd met him, even if it was brief. It seemed like the man as unfeeling about the emotions I bared to him. Even his younger self as Tom riddle, had shown no reaction to my emotional turmoil-** Voldemort felt his mind reel, how did the boy know his name? Better yet how had he met his younger self? Was it the diary? Lucius had a lot of explaining to do. As well as endure a well needed punishment. Voldemort watched the boy as he shifted and adjusted himself to where he had his knees curled up against his chest, having moved Nagini from the place she'd been in his lap to do so. His arms wrapped around his knees as he stared off somewhere in the room in thought. **–Maybe I am weak and pathetic, but I can't help that I am not emotionally stunted as he is. Though… I guess his reason for that is Dumbledore's fault as well. He doesn't hide his anger and frustration, and he never shows sorrow or pain or love. Not to anyone who is looking anyways. So who am I to judge when I myself am probably just as stunted emotionally as well?- **By this time Harry's tears had dried, though his eyes were a bit puffy. He was about to nudge Nagini's mind into speaking when there was a knock at the bedroom door.

Lucius walked into the room and looked at Harry a bit nervous before speaking, "Orion I have new from an associate of mine, who would like to speak with you and I at the end of this month."

Recognition flickered through the boys eyes, knowing full well he spoke of Voldemort just by Lucius's reactions, "Who is it?"

Since Lucius assumed he knew nothing of Voldemort he told him of who he was, "His name is Lord Voldemort. He is a powerful wizard here in Britain that holds quite a lot of influence on some of the people."

"A lord wants to see me? I would be honored to meet him," He gave Lucius a convincing smile that seemed to ease the man a bit into relaxing.

"Very well I will send him a reply and let him know that he can expect to meet us."

"Okay, oh and Lucius I'm planning on making a job out of ward making. What can you tell me about the job and its pay?"

Lucius looked surprised, about as much as Voldemort felt. Mostly, because warding, was a hard thing to get into doing and doing it correctly. Harry nodded, "Well you remember me telling you about my magic sensitivity?" This was the first time Voldemort heard this. Obviously this had been discussed when Nagini had been out hunting or visiting him to talk about things she'd noticed about the boy and what they discussed often.

"Yes, I remember the topic."

"Well I have been practicing the wards I have been reading in books and tweaking them a bit. I think I would like to give it a go and start a career in ward making. It would help me build up what little I have and support me in any way I need it too."

Lucius seemed thoughtful, and Voldemort could see the gears turning in the man's head as Nagini looked at the pair, "I think it would be a wonderful Idea. It makes quite a lot of money when done right and it helps the populace with the lack of ward makers in the community. Having one as young as you yourself is, creating wards for people houses and shops, would do wonders for the people."

Harry nodded, "Alright, then I shall start taking measures in doing so. Can you help me to get to the ministry to get my license for ward making? Or do I have to take a test first to do so?"

"Well do you have your Owls scores?"

"No I'm afraid not, you see when in Japan I was home schooled, and never got the time to take my owls."

"Ah, then yes we will have to test you. I will speak with minster fudge the next time I see him and try to arrange a meeting so you can take the test."

Harry nodded, "Okay, thank you Lucius, I really appreciate the help."

"Speak nothing of it Orion, Narcissa and I consider you part of our family now."

Harry blushed at those words, "Thanks." The words had been spoken softly, but Lucius had still heard them none the less.

"You're welcome," Lucius said to him, "Oh and one more thing, our son will be returning to the manor this winter. He has been writing to me that they have postponed the tournament they had planned for this year to take place next year. He is quite upset and I think him hanging around you would take his mind of the topic, since he is feeling down about the whole situation. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all, I wouldn't mind hanging around with Draco at all," Harry said smiling at him, "besides if I'm to be staying here until I find a place for myself I may as well try to get to know him."

"Excellent, he's been quite curious about you, you know. Narcissa writes about you quite a lot to our boy."

Harry's blush returned full force, "She writes about me?"

Lucius laughed, "Of course, why shouldn't she? You've been a very polite and helpful person around here Orion."

"I'm haven't been that helpful," Harry mumbled.

"None sense, now stop this. I do not care what that muggle trash has put in your head, but you are helpful and very talented. So don't doubt yourself, and keep your head held high okay?"

"Okay Lucius's," Harry said softly, like a child that had been scolded. In reality he had been a scolded child. Even though Lucius had no idea that he was still a child.

Voldemort watched the exchange between the two. It was a small bond, but a bond none the less and it was growing. Lucius was very fond of the boy and knowing Narcissa she loved him like her own son now. It was amazing the feelings this boy seemed to elicit in people no matter who they were. Voldemort watched them a moment longer before retreating to his own mind once more. Though, not before he'd ordered Nagini to ask him a few things and to coax information out of him. His thoughts wandered as he looked at his study. He decided then that he would make the boy his, to allow him to join him and spare his life. He wouldn't make him a death eater, no, he wasn't ready for that and probably never would be. Instead he thought of another way to mark the boy as a follower of his group. His little dragon wouldn't be leaving his side once he had him and there would no longer be a reason for the boy to fear death by his hand. Voldemort pulled out a fresh parchment and started drawing up plans for a way to mark the boy as a follower without the normal marking he gave the others.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Draco sat at the Slytherin table between Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson. The Slytherins were starting to get tired of the weasel's accusations about the disappearance of the Potter boy. Draco had to admit though he was a bit worried about what could have happened to him. His god father Severus Snape had loved the boy mother, and despised his father. Yet, when it came to the boy the man both loved and hated the boy. One because he looked a lot like, James did and two, because Harry had the same color eyes as his mother, Lilly had. He knew the lengths his godfather had gone to try and save Lilly and in a way was trying to protect Harry as well. Though, he didn't know why the man tried when he was going to die by their Lord's hand anyways. Then again it might just be the guilt that was causing him to do so. As a way to pay a debt that he lost the chance to do a long time ago. Draco sighed and Pansy glanced over at him, which caused him to just shake his head and ignore her. He remembered the day he'd offered potter his hand in friendship. He knew he'd gone the wrong way about doing it, but after that he couldn't help but react negatively to the boy as the years progressed. Now that he was gone, for some reason he felt bored and a bit distant. He'd always expected the boy to be there, almost as though he needed to be there. When Harry was gone things just weren't the same. No trouble anywhere sprouting where ever he went, no stories or tragic tales cropping out of the wood work in the rumor mills, no nothing and to Draco he found it quite dull.

The Weasel boy and the Weaselette blamed them and the dark lord for his disappearance. The dark lord wasn't even back and they were blatantly throwing out nonsense that just didn't fit. Not to mention something about a demon who had murdered for the dark lord. It was all just utter nonsense. He was glad the Christmas Holls where coming up fast. He had been sorely upset that Dumbledore had agreed with Fudge to put off the wizarding tournament till next year. He hated the old fool for not just allowing it to progress, but then again he was happy about one thing however. His mother had been writing him a lot since the beginning of the school year and she had been adamant about the upcoming parties and balls that they had planned. Not to mention the Christmas Holiday, where there would be a big party for anyone who was invited, but also for the death eaters as well. Well those that were left anyways. Those topics however, paled in comparison about the older boy that was now living under their roof for a certain length of time. His mother spoke fondly of the person, telling him how sweet and kind the boy was, not to mention how polite and well-mannered he was. She had also gushed over how magically talented he was as well. Along with, some other tid-bits, about the older male's strange, inheritance that he'd acquired at the age of fourteen.

Draco could say the least he was intrigued enough to want to get to know this person. Judging by his father's letters the male is very powerful, and held a magic sense about him that felt like no other he'd felt before. His father in his latest letter had stated that the other was to become a ward maker, and to Draco that was quite an accomplishment to become. Since, you had to be highly skilled in ward making to be one. However, his father also mention they'd run into the old fool while at the ministry, obviously he'd been called to witness the owls test taking place for the male at the ministry. He hoped that Dumbledore didn't start something with the older male. The old fool seemed to like to get in the way and cause trouble for anyone associated with his father. At this thought he glanced over at the head table, where the teachers and head master sit. Dumbledore was talking with Mrs. McGonagall, who was rapidly speaking about something to him, to which had his godfather's attention as they spoke amongst themselves. Yes, he wouldn't put it past the man to try something as foolish as causing Orion trouble.

Draco got up when dinner was over, heading to the common rooms since care for magical creatures was canceled for some strange reason. Once there Pansy and Blaise join him near the fire in their own seats, as Draco thought to himself.

"You know Draco you've been awfully silent most of the day," Pansy asked, as she painted her finger nails conversationally.

"I have been thinking about the person mother and father, often speak about."

"That Orion person you told us about?" Blaise asked looking to his best friend.

"Yes, it seems he hadn't taken his owls before today, and went to the ministry to get that done. Though, Dumbledore was called there to witness the test taking to make sure he didn't cheat on the test or something. Possibly even to just witness that the test was being taken by a wizard who'd been home schooled in another country. He also placed his status job as a ward maker and they accepted him for the job. They termed him as being a brilliant prodigy, and such. It seems that he's been pretty smart for a long time, though it really picked up when he had his inheritance. Father says he excels in most magic, especially dark arts spells. Father believes he may even join our cause, but what I don't understand is if the dark lord hadn't returned yet then how could he help?" He said to them.

"Do you think he could be back?" Pansy asked pausing in her finger painting.

"I think it's possible, but wouldn't father say so?"

"What if your father isn't telling you because the dark lord asked him too?" Blaise said.

"That… is possible," Draco said furrowing his brows.

"Do you think that Orion could be the dark lord?" Blaise asked his face paling.

"No, I don't think so," Draco said softly.

"How can you be sure?" Pansy interjected.

"Because mom doesn't gush over the dark lord, and dad wouldn't sound like he's talking about a son that he's never had making him proud," Draco said pointedly.

"… oh, I hadn't thought of that," Blaise said as he looked away and across the room as he thought to himself.

"Hey you said he was powerful right? Is it possible that he is the person the Weasel's are talking about?" Pansy asked.

That got Draco thinking, since it seemed the boy seemed to appear right around the time that the Weasley's started spewing the tripe about a demon. Judging by the descriptions he'd gotten about the male's inheritance he had to admit that it sounded like traits of a demon, other than the feathered wings and scales. It's possible he could have been, though as to him being responsible for the deaths of Potter's relatives was possible as well judging by the description in the paper about the fire taken to the families house, and the way Lucius described the power behind the male's power attack and defensive spells. If it were to be true then their dark lord would not be happy in the least that the Potter boy had been taken by another. Though, he had no doubt in his mind that it could be possible, and judging by what little he found out from his mother about the male's past he wouldn't put it past the man to do so. It was ironic even how much the other acted like their lord sometimes, while others he acted like he himself would react. This was all derived from the letters he received regularly from his parents. Even though, he had yet to meet him, he felt like he already had known him most of his life, just by the way the letters spoke of him.

"It is possible he could be, and it is even more possible that he might be the reason Potters home got torched," He said looking from the fire to them. "Father says he has a strong affinity with both fire and lightning. You do remember what the paper said about the fire at Potters relatives house right?" He got a nod from both of them. "Well they said it took the muggles forever to put the fire out and the only fire that could do that is one made up of magic. Orion's magic reacts the same way through his fire magic, and better yet Orion can wield both elements without using a band," He watched as his friends gaped at him, "Yeah that was my reaction too. Anyways it seems that he also has a lot more stamina than the average person, and father is really starting to think the other can't physically over exert himself or get tired from using too much magic."

"Do you think he's some new type of immortal?" Pansy asked.

"I'm not sure, but father says his healing rate is on par with the vampires."

"Whoa that got to be neat to see," Blaise said and Draco shot him a smirk.

"Father said it was wicked, the only problem is. His healing can't deal with old scaring, since it was part of his inheritance. It seems anything that took place before he changed was left as it was old wounds and all. Though Orion said his appearance now is vastly different from the one he had before, but the Black family traits seemed to be more enhanced then they had been," Draco paused before he spoke softly, "You wouldn't believe what muggles did to him. They tore up his back, as though it was something they could carve into. Father says that even minor glamours couldn't cover it, and that Orion doesn't even bother to hide them since he found a spell to make his new appendages appear as though they're tattoos. He says it's interesting to watch them revert from tattoos and back again, since Orion always wears backless shirts to allow him to call upon them whenever he needs them. The coolest part about it is that he can use the spell to just call upon his wings if he needs them or to call upon his whole new form if he wants too. Originally the spell had been designed for angels and demons, along with some Veelas. He tweaked the spell and made a quite a few changes to them as well, which is why his tattoos appear black and not silver. I suspect he did it that way in order to hide to scar that upsets him the most."

"What scar is that?" Pansy asked.

"Those damn muggles carved the word _'Freak'_ into his back," Pansy and Blaise gasped in horror when Draco told them that. "Mother said he'd had a break down the first day they'd met. She said he must have suffered quite a lot for a long time, and had dealt with it on his own. For even longer, and the inheritance just seemed to make it worse, because he was starting to believe those damn muggles were right. He started to think of himself as a freak they said he was," Draco said curling his hands into fists. "She said she'd forced him to show her the moment he'd mentioned it. Though he'd been uncomfortable in doing so, though she had insisted he'd tell her everything about his life with the muggles… She wants to heal him. To mend the mess they created and bring him back down to a healthier thinking level as well as emotional. Father is also encouraging him to think of us as family. I really can't wait to meet him personally, since through mothers and fathers letters it feels as though I've known him for years. I agree with my mom on her motives and I want to help him. He's been helping them out quite a lot and even made themselves his first customer to create new wards for the house. He'll be putting them up the first of December, and father is excited to be able to be home to watch him work. I wish I could say the same, but we won't be able to leave until a week before the month ends. He basically gave a two month period to where he could prepare for the job and sort out which wards he would use as well as wards he created himself. He has to plan them out so they don't explode on top of one another. So he's been practicing on some trees in the forest outside our house." He chuckled at something his father said about one of his practice tries having tossed Orion across the forest a few yards. He hadn't been severely hurt, but he had the wind knocked out of him and he'd been dazed for a long while before gaining his bearings back.

"He sounds like an amazing guy, do you mind if me and Blaise come over sometime to have a talk with him and meet him?"

Draco laughed, "Pansy you'll be seeing him at the holiday party."

"Oh, yeah I forgot."

Blaise laughed, "That's a first, you forgetting a party?"

"Oh hush Blaise I just got overly excited about meeting this Orion person. You can't blame a girl for forgetting something when it involves boys," She pouted to him, only causing Blaise to laugh even more.

The rest of the day went on with them teasing each other before curfew kicked in for the lot of them. The other Slytherins learning about the boy called Orion and his prodigy mind working hard at ward making. That no doubt, would lead those same Slytherins into telling their parents of him and his ward making. It seems that Orion would be getting more people who would be requesting his wards to be placed around their houses in the near future. The whispers would spread and more would find out, as the days role by.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

To say Barty was annoyed, was an understatement. The old fool Dumbledore had him and the Aurors running around looking for the same boy he'd told his lord about. He kept tight lipped on where he was, and contacted his lord when he got the chance too. He thought it was funny that Voldemort had them running around chasing false sightings of the boy, what surprised him however is when his lord told him just who the boy was and what he was calling himself. Not once had he suspect the boy was the Potter boy. The explanation his lord gave him was enough not feel aggression towards the boy and gave him a bit of understanding as to why the boy fled. It had been funny when the dark lord had told him to tell the headmaster to not partake in the Triwizard Tournament that Cornelius Fudge had proposed, and so they had postponed him. That it was a dark plot to the dark lord was planning on using to attack the school during, though he could the minister was not pleased and so he had offered a postponement until next year. The whispers here and there among the Aurors and the Order were quite amusing, and Barty couldn't say that he wasn't at all happy about the progresses taking place.

He was however excited that his lord had found a way to make himself whole again. Since Potter had been found and was more than willing to possibly join them I their quest, Voldemort would have to alter the spell he'd previously had wanted to use before the boy had gone missing. If he was willing to partake in the ritual the spell would be greatly more powerful that the one he'd been thinking of using. This bode well for his lord and Barty felt a well of joy and excitement curl in the pit of his gut, and for once he found that if the boy accepted the ordeal that he would have a great deal of respect for the boy. Dumbledore wouldn't even know what hit him by the time it all came down to it. This month was almost up and the boy was already making a name for himself as a prodigy called Orion Black. He'd been there during the testing the boy had undergone in the ministry for being a ward maker. To say he was impressed was an understatement, and he knew the male would become a powerful ward master. One that no one would forget any time soon.

* * *

_**Next Chapter**__- Nightmares_

_**Well everyone that is it for this chapter. Looking forward to your R&R's. See you all soon!**_


	5. Nightmares

**Hello lovely Readers**

**Wow two chapters in one day. I felt on a role today, and actually I have been up literally all night, and I don't feel tired one bit. X.x Though I feel all weird now for being up two days in a row now. Hopefully this chapter is good enough to pass with my lack of sleep XD.**

**Stardust of Orion: I actually have a good idea of how Harry came about his own ideals. Hopefully this chapter will give the perspective you need to know how Harry came into his thoughts on the matter. As for the reactions I explained it in chapter four a bit, but in the chapter it's depicting about a month and a half's worth of having lived with the Malfoy's already. As for Lucius and Harry's reactions XD I won't give anything away just yet.**

**misteeirene: Yeah I'm sorry about that. I hadn't actually planned on doing long paragraphs and it just ended up that way. I seem to have an awful lot of fun making long paragraphs, and it's a habit I recently got into thanks to RPing on Gaiaonline. **

**Sydney Alexis: Thank you, for pointing out the words I'd been miss-spelling. Spelling isn't a strong suit of mine, and I have had issues with it for a long time. I also thank you for the information to getting a Beta reader, as well as a way to check over my work. I must confess I get a little antsy when I complete something only to let it sit. So that may or may not happen. **

**I know this is smaller than the previous chapters. But hey :3 this answers a few questions.**

**Well that is all for now I hope you enjoy this next chapter and I look forward to things you have to say about it. Enjoy!**

Things in the story you might want to know.

"Talking/ spells"

_'Thinking/ sound affects/ Memories'_

_**-Parseltongue-**_

**.:**Spells**:.**

**Chapter Five**- _Nightmares_

Harry for once in his life felt a little at piece, even with the nightmares that involved the Dursleys'. Narcissa had treated him just like family, and he found himself helping her whenever he got the chance to do so. He'd spend long days studying and working on keeping himself fit, as well as testing his ward spells after tweaking them quite a few times. He was making progress on making his own signature ward, one that would be extremely complicated to create by anyone else other than himself. Just thinking about his possible job was making him excited, but then as soon as he found himself with nothing to do, or his thoughts got in the way of his work. Everything would come crashing down, and at night it was at its worst. Narcissa had been, understanding about the whole ordeal, and he often found himself to be following her around, like a lost kitten.

It had taken him longer than one would have expected for him to get comfortable around the Malfoy's. He dreaded however the day he would see Draco again. He was pretty sure the other wouldn't fall for the Orion Black story. Then again he wasn't all that sure anymore himself. Usually those who've been around someone a lot in the past four years would know who they were the best. Though, he couldn't think that to be right anymore either. Considering neither Hermione nor Ron had recognized him even when he looked like someone else. So what did he know about them anymore? Harry had a lot of time to think about many things, and having been on the run before coming into the Malfoy's care. Practicing certain magic from the books he'd collected to keep him from thinking too much about the Dursleys', about his friends, and about Dumbledore. Most of the books he'd bought were spell books, but the few that had been left were potions books, and history books. He also had a few research books on magic and basics of it. He'd found himself drawn to magic as his sensitivity had grown as the days drew on.

When Harry didn't have Dumbledore breathing down his neck about the greater good, and the lights thoughts and prejudices against the dark arts, he found that he didn't really mind of using dark magic. Magic was magic to him, and there was no such thing as dark or light. It was a wondrous thing to behold, when you gave it a chance. Harry could see it in practically everything, even in the world around them as though the earth itself breathed the magic around them. People's aura's ranged from thick and wild tendrils to thin gentle licks of particles depending on the person's magical strength. At first when he was able to see it all he'd been overwhelmed by it all and it had left him dizzy and out of sorts. He couldn't see his own magic, but the bursts he felt from it when his wards exploded on him was enough for him to literally taste it.

The day his ward had exploded both Narcissa and Lucius had laughed so hard he'd thought they would laugh up a lung from how hard they had laughed. They'd been worried yes, but when the initial shock was over and all was well he found himself on the other ends of their laughs. In which they cause him to blush a deep scarlet and he'd gone inside and locked himself away to tweak his wards again and to have some private alone time. In which his thoughts started to turn to the guilt he started to feel for deceiving them. He wanted so much for Narcissa and Lucius to know the real him. Though what hurt him the most was the thought that Lucius and Narcissa may turn him away and even possibly just hand him over to Voldemort to kill him. He knew he'd told Nagini a while back that he wouldn't mind dying by his hand, but not under those circumstances. Having gotten to know them a little bit, Harry couldn't seem to find the reason he once had for disliking them other than because others said they were bad. Needless to say Harry thought differently of them at that point.

Being able to understand from a different view point of how everything was working help Harry to understand more than he ever dreamed possible. He was happier now then he'd been with the light. He hoped however that his small moment in time would last forever, but even he knew fairytales eventually had to come to an end, and reality needs to return at some point. Harry sat in his bed thinking about how was the best way he could tell them about who he really was. He went through every scenario in his head he could think of that involved them in it. Each one came up negatively, and his mind kept telling him that the y would do like everyone else did. They would abandoned him and leave him for dead. Harry curled up on his side, sightlessly staring at the bedroom wall with Osiris laying on the pillow next to him.

**-Hey Osiris?-** Said snaked lifted his head to look at him silently **–Should I tell them who I really am?-**

The snake stayed silent for a long moment before nodding slightly **–I think the road told with the truth is one that leads to a happier life master-**

Harry snorted **–I hope those words are, right Osiris… I don't want to leave here any time soon. I like them both more than I used too.-**

**-I'm sure all will be fine, fore they all love you master. Nagi' would even fight for you is she had too, and she knows who you really are-**

**-Yeah I know, I just…I feel uncertain that's all. I mean give me a spell or potion and I will be confident and capable to do what I want without fail… well most times anyways. But when it comes to these emotions and situations I am at a lose-**

**-Silly master so smart and yet acts like new born hatchling-**

**-I'm starting to wonder if me letting you hang out with Nagi' is a good thing if you two want to tease me all the time like you do-**

Osiris snickered, a hissy laugh **–But you like it when we do master, it makes you feel better-**

**-I know Osiris, and I thank you both for doing so really. G'night Osiris-**

**-Good night master-**

Harry soon fell to sleep shortly after that, his wrestles mind taking a while to plunge into the depths of sleep. At first Harry started off still for a long while, but before long Harry's form started to twitch and advanced to slight thrashing, before it became almost violent. Screams tore from his lips, like those of a wounded animal crying out in pain. Salty tears started to spill forth from closed eyes. The screams disturbed the other occupants enough to rouse from the sleeping quarters to investigate. On the outside Harry looked to be fine except the fact that he was having a night mare, but with Harry's mind was a whole different story.

It was dark, but there was bright hot white pain lacing his whole body. There were harsh words thrown at him from every direction. From voices he knew, or used to know and the voices threw every insult he'd heard in the past thrown at him in that very moment. He looked up at the deadened face of his Uncle Vernon. The man's face was pale and blue looking, on moment and then the next he was the rotting burnt corps of the man he'd left behind in that house that day. Dudley and Petunia fared no better as they beat him just as much as Vernon did. Amongst the dead there were those who he'd once looked up to or had called friends. Ron was there calling him a demon, and a monster before beating on him just like the others had. To one side Dumbledore stood there watching everything progress. Harry reached out to him and yet found no help from the man as he stared at him over his spectacles.

"You betrayed us all Harry or ticked us and lied, you know you deserve this," The voice of Dumbledore carried over the voices yelling at him and beating him.

Harry's wide green eyes looked over at him in betrayal and sorrow. All he could do was curl in on his self, and take whatever was thrown at him. No one would save him and he accepted that. He knew all along he was alone and on his own since day one. The beatings in the dream evolved to Vernon getting a few of them to pin him down and have his way with him. Harry fought hard to get them to let go, so he could get away and feel away from the scene he was currently locked in. It was during all of this that he started to hear a voice, though distant, was calling a name unfamiliar to him yet somehow he still knew it was his as well. He tried to focus on that voice, but couldn't through the pain. Before he knew it he was forced awake, and it wasn't by his own doing.

Harry's eyes were wide open and tears raced down his face. His body ached in dull phantom felt bruises that weren't even there. His breath came out in gasps that let him know he was having issues controlling his breathing and getting proper breaths. His throat hurt as though he'd been screaming and the raspy feeling allowed him to know that he had indeed done so. Since his time coming there he'd not once had a dream as intense as that one. They had started out dull, and minor things he could handle, but they gradually got worse as his guilt for killing the Dursley's accidently and the fact he was hiding now from all he knew and basically living a lie. The stress he was forcing himself into was something that intensified the dreams to the point that he simply just couldn't control it anymore. What was worse was now after almost two months now he started to feel horrible about deceiving Narcissa and Lucious, of who he really was. He liked them and for the first time in his life he felt like he was really part of a family for once.

Harry's blurred vision blinked rapidly to look up into Narcissa's face. She was leaning over him at an awkward angle and he realized that something was holding him down. Glancing down he followed pale hands up to Lucius who'd been the one who was holding him down. Lucius looked just as worried as Narcissa, and Harry's tears came down even harder when he realized what had happened was a dream. Not only that but it had obviously gotten bad enough that Lucius thought the boy would hurt himself in his sleep and so restrained him. Narcissa was stroking the side of his face and his hair gently. Soothing tones coming from her as Lucius let go of him, and immediately Harry curled in on himself while turning to lay on his side. Narcissa shifted him to where the boy was curled up against her as she stroked his bangs gently, as she rocked him silently humming to him. Lucius watched them for a long moment before he left them alone, obviously not sure how to handle this situation. When Lucius left and was gone from view, Narcissa started to speak to him.

Her fingers had pause over the right side of his face and he'd thought she was finger his bangs, but she wasn't. "You're not who you say you are… are you Orion."

Harry froze before his body started to tremble even more, "I'm sorry….I'msorry,I'msorry…" his words started to slur as he tried so hard to apologize.

"Hush, it is okay I'm not upset Harry. I probably should, but I'm not," She said holding him close, as the boys trembling sobs increased.

Narcissa rested her cheek on top of his, her motherly instincts having kicked in as she held the very much lost boy in her arms. She couldn't be upset with him, but she was willing to protect his secret from anyone who might use it to harm him. She rocked the boy and he wondered if she was thinking about Draco, and if he'd been in the same situation as Harry was. He knew she didn't doubt the stories about the muggles he'd lived with were fake stories. They were always described in clear defined detail, compared to the stories of the family he'd made up in his head. Often he left them to assume just what happened in the family. Harry longed for a family, for love, for comfort, for parents to sooth him, for a chance at life without expectations shoved onto him by the wizarding world.

"I will continue to keep calling you Orion, Harry. If it takes having you living under another name to heal you then I will do anything I can to make sure you never remember the life you lived alone for so long," Harry continued to cry, thankful that Narcissa wasn't sending him away. That she wasn't going to harm him and was willing to do what she could to help him. After a while Harry calmed down and he slipped into a fitful sleep.

**{A Shadowed life}**

Narcissa had been telling Harry the truth that she would do her damnedest to protect the boy. She was the same age as her little dragon, Draco. She ran her bangs through the now sleeping boys bangs lightly. She was afraid how her husband would react if he were to find out. She thought that maybe he would react more negatively then she had, considering in the past the boy had caused him a lot of trouble, then again remembering what the boy had obviously suffered through, to traumatize the poor child was possibly enough for Lucius to look past, the events that he'd been through with Harry Potter. She somehow could see her Draco in Harry's place if she and her husband had left Draco alone in the world.

It tore at her heart to know that Draco could have easily been in Harry's shoes, but what was worse was that the muggles he spoke of had been the muggle relatives his parents must have known. She had heard the heart wrenching screams that had come from this boy, only moments ago. Harry was definitely a troubled child, and having remembered what the boy had described in his stories on how his change came to be, she could easily picture the muggles standing not far from him when everything went to hell in a hand bag. The boy had been raised in the path of light, and yet such darkness swallowed him without remorse. Just when he thought he saw light at the end of his long tunnel it would drag him back down with a dreadful pull down to the reality of his existence.

It all made sense why the boy drowned himself in books, training, practice, and other things he often did to keep him self-occupied. He was drowning out his past by keeping his mind away from it, in the only way he knew how. He locked away his guilt, pain, and anger. She had no doubt the boy had some heavy anger in him, though she's had yet to witness it, she knew it was still there all the same and when he did lose it she hoped no one was near him who he cared about that would get hurt in the wake of such anger. She had already seen what he could do, to the dummies he practiced on frequently, even inventing some spells that she found terrifyingly violent in nature.

Yes, Harry Potter had a deep rooted darkness that was slowly swallowing him alive with no end in sight. She found herself furious with Dumbledore for allowing such things happen to Harry. He was only a child, who was scared to die, and yet welcomed it all at the same time. He was a child with Britain's Wizarding world looking to him to destroy a dark lord that was and would always be more powerful than him. Oh yes he had a destructive power himself, but their dark lord was even more so with his own destructive dark powers.

Narcissa continued to rock Harry silently when her husband returned. She looked up at him and gave him a faint smile before he sat on the edge of the bed with a cup of warm tea in an outstretched hand towards her. He looked at the boy and sighed, worry etched into his face, and she decided to take a chance with him about Harry, "Lucius, what if I were to tell you Orion isn't who he appears to be?"

Lucius thought seriously about it for a long moment before he looked away from Harry to Narcissa, "I would say I wouldn't doubt it, because even with what Orion says the emotional and mental scaring he has, goes beyond then what he tells us. Whatever he is running from it was bad enough that he was willing to leave everything he knew behind and change himself in any way he could to escape it."

It was the best answer she was going to get from him and gently brushed away Harry's bangs away from his forehead, showing her husband the hind scare there. The lightning bolt shape scar was easy to tell apart from the pale color of his skin. Lucius eyes widened and he stood quickly, looking down at the boy and then paled before his anger could even be born it had been gone just as fast.

"'Cissa, If he is Harry Potter then…" He trailed off.

"Yes, Lucius what everyone knew about The-Boy-Who-Lived is all false. He isn't being pampered and treated like a spoiled child. What he was going through was a lot darker than any of us could ever imagine," She said softly.

"Oh Merlin 'Cissa, Voldemort wants to meet the boy. Do you know what he would do to him?" Lucius fretted.

"Yes I am well aware what our lord could and would do to him if he knew who Orion was," she said softly as Harry shift fretfully in his sleep.

"There isn't much we can do to stop him from killing the boy," At that Narcissa's head snapped up.

"Oh, Lucius there has to be something we can do. Maybe convince our lord that nothing is as it seems and the boy isn't an enemy he should worry about," She was showing her very protective motherly side he'd had since the day she'd conceived Draco.

"'Cissa you know as well as I that the boy had been marked for death a long time ago. Even before we got to know him as he is now," He sat down again and looked at the sleeping Potter boy. "It's odd though, that out of everything he caused in the past I don't feel at all hostile towards him. If anything I feel… I'm not sure what I feel, but I do know I don't want harm to come to him now,"

"Yes, I understand what you meant," She said as she continued to rock him gently.

"How do you think he got the Black family traits if he isn't a Black?"

"I think that may be my cousin's doing. If he was the reason for it then he is possibly a black by a blood inheritance. Which makes him a Potter-Black, and I assume his physical change only enhanced the Black traits even more," She explained, remembering a bit of what Harry had told them about his transformation and the fact that he looked entirely different from what he looked like now. That alone explained quite a lot.

Lucius nodded, "Sirius Black, probably did something that both saved him and destroyed him all in one go."

"How, so?"

"The change saved him from being thought of as Harry Potter, and yet it destroyed him because of the guilt he possibly carries and is unwilling to let anyone know who he truly is, because of what possibly happened at his muggle summer home arrangements," Lucius said to her.

Narcissa nodded at that, "Yes, I believe your right Lucius."

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Harry woke to the feeling of fingers combing through his hair gently, and the warmth of another holding him. At first he didn't register in his mind on who, it could be, until he remembered the brief blur of emotions and dreams he'd had that night that had roused bother Narcissa and Lucius from their sleep. Harry tensed and was about to jerk away from the one stroking his hair, when that firm grip kept him from doing so. Harry glanced up through the fringe of his hair to look at Narcissa, who looked like she may have changed at some point or possibly just gotten back to check up on him. He really hoped she hadn't been there the whole night, even though it made him happy inside if she had. He could see Narcissa reading the emotions he knew was possibly flying across his features before they settled once more.

"Don't do that… Don't hide Harry. It's part of the main reason why you keep having these break downs, and nightmares," She said to him.

Harry's eyes went wide, as questions filled his head, _'This wasn't the first one she'd noticed? When did she first notice? Am I in trouble? She doesn't seem angry with me. I wonder why?' _Harry looked up at her with questioning eyes.

"Harry I'm not upset with you. Far from it actually, as is Lucius," At those words Harry croaked out a soft _'Why'_. "We aren't entirely sure ourselves, but we do know this. You are just a child, and that all we thought we knew about you was false. Seeing the way you react to contact, to words, and even though a lot of what you said wasn't all lies. Muggles really hurt you, and if I had to guess you were related to them in some way. You didn't live in a family that loved each other regardless of their faults. Dear Orion, your part of our family now. You have wiggled yourself into our hearts and we would do anything to keep you as safe as we can. But I worry about your meeting with the dark lord.I want you to know, if things go wrong then please don't hold it against us. We haven't abandoned you or given you up for dead. We just are unable to help you if he chose to kill you."

"I don't want to die," he said softly.

"I know Orion I know," she said softly as Lucius walked in. Not looking the least bit tired.

"Did you stay here all night?" He asked Narcissa.

"No, Lucius and I altered between us so we could both get equal amount of sleep. I just got back about a few minutes ago," She said truthfully, "You seem to sleep better when someone is close by. If Severus was here he could draw you up some dreamless sleep potions. Or would you like to learn how to make your own?"

"I would prefer to make my own," Narcissa smiled knowingly.

The month and a half Harry had spent with them had given Narcissa the amount of time see needed in order to understand him. It was during this moment he realized she sometimes alternated in calling him Harry and Orion, like she was unsure which to call him. Harry preferred the name Orion however.

"Please…I want to be known as Orion now," He said softly.

"Okay Orion, I understand."

Harry was leaving his name sake behind, and taking on a new future with a new identity, "Now, Orion we need to have a long talk okay?" Lucius said to him as he sat down next to his wife.

"About, what?" He asked cautiously.

"Everything, that happened to you when you were at that muggle house. We want to help you but only if you let us, no more lies, no more half-truths… just the complete truth."

Harry swallowed thickly and wished he didn't have to, and he felt panic fill him as he started to mumble, "Please don't make me… I don't want to remember."

"Please Orion we need to know," Narcissa could hear the broken tone the boy used in her arms. This was the only way though, he needed to let it out.

It took a lot of coaxing, but eventually the got the mentally and emotionally broken boy to tell them everything that happened in that house. The abuse he had been under each member of the house, Vernon having been worst one of the three with combinations of mental, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. While Dudley was physical and emotional abuse, and his Aunt Petunia was just mental and emotional. Out of the three Vernon was the one who was the cause of most every broken bone in his body, most every scare that was upon his person including the one on his back that spelled the word _'FREAK'_ In big capital letters on his upper back. What angered the and upset them the most those was the day the man had raped Harry at the age of ten, before he even knew what was happening to him and in the end felt so dirty for something that wasn't at all his fault. Harry had lived fourteen years' worth of nightmares, those of the real world and those of his dreams brought to life. From here the Malfoy's and Harry, now to be known as Orion Black, would work on the path to recovery. It would be a hard trek, but together they might be able to accomplish it.

_**Next Chapter**__- Reborn_

_**Well everyone that is it for this chapter. Looking forward to your R&R's. See you all soon!**_


	6. Reborn

**Hello lovely Readers**

**It seems there is confusion on Harry's relatives. Please refer back to the first chapter –chuckles- If you remember the Dursleys' were subjected to an untimely death by Harry's crystal egg exploding. Vernon was fried to a crisp, Dudley was half crispy, and Petunia was pinned to a wall and bleeding out. It wasn't in great detail, but they did die. It is part of the reason why he thinks he won't be accepted back into the lights fold. He thinks it's his fault they died.**

**Stardust of Orion: Thanks and yeah Harry is having a rough time. During his time at the Dursleys' in both the books and movies, I really didn't understand why he kept getting sent back there. As for the things with Nagini, I remember reading in someone else's story about being connected together, and in another how Harry and Voldemort could enter each other's minds. So I started to think about how to go about the connection between Nagini and Voldemort, after the movie where Harry had seen what Nagini had done to Arthur. It was actually fun putting Voldemort in Nagini's mind.**

**tdjs: Thanks, glad you liked the explanations and the chapters. I was on a roll the other day and just couldn't bring myself to stop. As for my research, yes you could say that. I wanted this story to have some kind of sense to it. I think quite a few people upon reading the first chapter thought a little farfetched. Well that was until I gave more of an explanation later on. Am glad however that I keep surprising you, I probably surprise others as well but they don't say so. As for his job, I thought it would be cool for him to be a ward maker. I know what you mean about Wand and Ward being close in spelling. As I had read back over it I realized I had thought the same thing XD I thought I had gone cross eyed when I read back to make sure I hadn't miss spelled it. **

**I always thought having different perspectives in a story let others know how the others saw things going. As for Narcissa, I always thought the same thing. She seemed like a loving person too, if it wasn't for other things seeming to hold that back. As for his relatives they are already dead I think I should have put greater detail into that it was not only over looked by you, but others as well. As for your spelling error it is okay I understood none the less. As for the nightmares in the fifth chapter, I agree with you. Bottling up stress, guilt, dark thoughts, and such is the wrong way to go about things because it only makes situations worse.**

**GariobRiva: Thank you, I'm happy you like the whole thing with the Malfoys'. As for the relatives, they passed on in the first chapter. If you would like I could set up a devious chapter of them being brought back so torture can happen XD. As for going back to Hogwarts I was thinking about it. He is still fourteen, and even though he went to the ministry and passed his Owls, I think I may have Narcissa convince him to go to school under a glamour or something to at least finish school. I might even have Voldemort make him go back XD I haven't really thought about how I might do that yet.**

**KK: Yes, I understand house fires isn't the best thing to sit around and daily in. Just remember that Harry is no longer human, his speed now is well beyond that of a normal person right now. Plus the room that had fire in it was minor, at the time. I understand within three to four minutes most of the immediate area is engulfed in flames, and several more minutes afterwards to cause the complete house to go up in flames. At this point as well Harry didn't know the feather weight charm yet. Grabbing the few things he did in a quick succession rather than grabbing a heavy trunk when he doesn't know the charm to lighten it is the best route. I thank you on your thoughts about it though, and maybe this will clear up a bit of confusion of his burning home, in the first chapter.**

**MayaCC: Yeah spelling and Grammar, not strong suits of mine. Thank you for reading though. I have had a couple people suggest a Beta reader already and I have been thinking about it, but not sure a want to. **

**Well that is all for now I hope you enjoy this next chapter and I look forward to things you have to say about it. Enjoy!**

Things in the story you might want to know.

"Talking/ spells"

_'Thinking/ sound affects/ Memories'_

_**-Parseltongue-**_

**.:**Spells**:.**

* * *

**Chapter Six**- _Reborn_

Harry woke to that morning nervous and twitchy. He was going to see Voldemort today, and to be quite honest he didn't know how it was going to turn out. Most times he met the man it had ended with the two of them fighting. Osiris sat upon his shoulders and Nagini on the sofa in the watching the boy practically pace the floor. It had been a couple weeks since the Malfoys' had found out who he was. He was glad that they seemed to be okay with it and even went as far as wanting him to be more a part of their family then he already felt. But, now that the month was over they were expected to be at the dark lord manor before noon. Harry had his wings hidden away as well as his scales, tail, and ears. His eyes were glamoured to the steel grey color he'd used upon first meeting Lucius in Diagon Alley. Lucius and Narcissa thought it best to go this way, because they didn't think the dark lord knew of his other form. How he knew he was at their home was a mystery, then again they thought maybe it was because of Nagini's appearance that possibly caused it. They would see when they got there, though for now this was best until they knew more. Even though Voldemort had called for only him and Lucius, Narcissa had insisted that she go with them.

**-If you pace anymore hatchling you will wear a hole in the floor-** Nagini hissed out in a laugh.

**-I can't help it Nagi' every time before now we have always fought… I just hope nothing goes wrong that's all-**

**-No need to fret master likes you-**

**-I don't have much faith in those words Nagi'. Besides I doubt there is anything that could change his mind about me being The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Not-Die-** Harry bit out sarcastically.

**-Come, now no need to be this way. If I say master liked you then he does-** Nagini said it in a finality that clearly said not to argue. She was bound and determined to have him meet with her master, even if it meant swallowing him whole just to spit him back up on the floor of his manor when she got him there. She slithered up to him and he picked her up and placed her around his neck alongside Osiris, which both snakes seemed a bit crowded considering Osiris had grown quite a bit over the past few weeks.

Harry only sighed and looked over to the double doors as they opened to reveal Narcissa and Lucius each as equally nervous as he felt. Lucius walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder before Narcissa walked over and hugged him tightly. She pulled away and looked to Lucius who nodded, placing a hand on both their shoulders before, he apparated them both to Riddle Manor with him. When they landed in the foyer of the manor Harry wavered a bit unstable, before Lucius steadied him. When he was feeling better they noted the short fat man that Harry knew as Peter Pettigrew. Harry set a frown upon his face, his eyes narrowing on the short fat man. Anger welled up in him he hated this man so much for what happened with Sirius. Oh, yes he blamed Dumbledore for most of the issues, but Pettigrew was a friend that betrayed Sirius and his parents and handed them over willingly to save his own pathetic hide.

Peter looked to Harry and sneered, "What are you looking out boy?"

Lucius reacted before Harry could, "Orion Black is a visitor of the dark lords Pettigrew, and more than capable of taking on trash like you."

Pettigrew looked about ready to say something, but under Lucius's withering stare the man was easily cowed. Without another word Pettigrew ushered them to the room that held their lord, knocking tentatively as a soft answer followed not soon after. Opening the door Pettigrew stepped in with Narcissa, Lucius, and Harry behind him.

"M-my lord… Lucius and O-orion have showed, as well as Mrs. Malfoy," He said bowing to him.

"I can see that Pettigrew now out of my sight," Voldemort hissed.

At first Harry didn't know what to say, not that he would want to considering how nervous he was. Wormtail skittered out the door and left them alone with the dark lord. Nagini slid down from his shoulders and slithered over to the floating chair before she made her way up the back of it to dangle across the top of the chair and down next to her master. His long bony fingers stroking along her scaled head light with sharpened nails. His eyes were locked onto Harry's as the man seemed to make him feel as though he saw right through him, and it was making him rather nervous. Narcissa was behind him with a hand on the small of his back to give him courage, as Lucius stepped forward.

"You asked for us my lord?" He said going down on one knee. Harry reluctantly followed and Narcissa did so as well.

"I am curious Lucius… why did you of all people not seek me out the day I went missing. Surely you did not think me dead," Voldemort said as his eyes slid away from Harry and to Lucius.

"My lord, if I had known I would have-"

"Enough, you cannot talk your way out of this one Lucius. I had expected better of you," He hissed but did not use **.:**Crucio**:. **on him like he thought he would.

"I apologize, my lord," Lucius said but Harry could see the surprise on his face from his angle, which meant he'd expected to be as well.

After that it fell silent again and Harry felt that gaze upon him once more. He wasn't sure what the man was thinking or why he seemed to take such interest in him, but it was becoming unnerving. He swallowed thickly glad that his bangs shadowed his face away from view. Narcissa had liked his hair being long, and since Draco refused to grow his out Harry had become the perfect subject for Narcissa to have a bit of fun with it. His Hair was down except for two small braids that wrapped around either side of his head before meeting in the back to create one single braid. The place where the two braids connected was a hair clip in the shape of a dragon that lightly wrapped around the single braid.

"I came to my attention… That the day before Hogwarts was to start school up once more. That a mysterious creature showed up in Diagon Alley and made quite a bit of a fuss, that involved a couple by standers and two Hogwarts students. As to how I came about that information you will know in due time, however, I sent Nagini out to find this person two months ago," He trailed off and let it sink in.

Harry glanced over at Lucius who had paled, but he himself was sure that he was probably just the same if not more so. Nagini had been a trap made for Harry to walk into and like he always did he'd landed head first right into said trap without much of a fight. He'd thought it was funny that Nagini had come that day and she hadn't said much to him on the matter except for her asking questions that came to her mind and he'd answered truthfully. Yes she had said she'd come to speak with him on her master's behalf, but he didn't know the man had known about him since that day. Harry felt sick to his stomach suddenly and kept his head down, though he wanted to flee so badly now.

"This person not only came into the care of one of my most trusted, but also had some secrets he was keeping. Orion Black… you came up with quiet a good back story, one that would make any Slytherin proud. But that isn't entirely your name now is it… Harry Potter?" Voldemort said as his eyes stayed piercing on Harry's form.

Harry looked up wondering how the man knew, Nagini hadn't left the house the days that came after he'd revealed who he was. There had been no way for the man to know so how had he found out? Harry's heart was racing in his chest and he felt his whole being telling him to run and not look back. Before he moved however Lucius had grabbed Harry's wrist as if to restrain him. He glanced at the man subtly and noted said man looked determined to escape with him, loyalty to his lord, be damned. Lucius was loyal to his lord, but even for this man one false move could have him turning from him. Lucius had some strong beliefs of his own and since Harry was family to him he would fight for him like he would for Draco. Harry's heart slowed down and he calmed himself gradually with the courage he had gained from that simple gesture. He looked back to the dark lord who was looking at said man's hand on his wrist. Amusement was on his features and for some reason Harry didn't understand what the man was amused about.

Harry stood and Narcissa made a protesting sound at his actions, but nothing happened. Harry looked him straight in the eyes. That random courage he got from being around the man seemed to rear its little head as he stood there. Even though he was scared that small fear was squashed by the courage he suddenly had coursing through him. Voldemort's eyes narrowed, but he did not say a thing or move. The man wasn't all that intimidating in this form, and to be quite frank Harry didn't understand the fear he'd had moments ago. Yes, he was the dark lord but this body the man had right now was not intimidating in the least and judging by what his magic sensitivity told him, his power was weaker in this form and seemed to be leaking from him, as though it was having difficulty trying to stay in the man's body so it could be whole again.

"It would seem then I have no reason to hide from you then," Harry said taking his cloak off and letting it drop to the floor.

He waved his hand over his eyes and the left side of his face, to drop the glamour wandlessly and wordlessly. He hissed a word in parseltongue, to release the clasp on his ear, and shortly after he concentrated on allowing his wings, scales, and tail to appear to the man. His tail slipping out of the back of his black slacks as the spell that held it in a tattoo form was released. Slitted Avada Kedavra green eyes stared at blood red ones, as Harry stood proud and tail. The courage he'd gained the only thing keeping him from fleeing the room. Once everything was brought to the man's eyes Harry noted the appraising gaze as it slipped over his form now that all was revealed to his eyes. Black and white tipped wings flexed slightly behind him as he watched the man, if you could call him that, sit there and rake his eyes over his form.

"I must admit seeing you through someone else's eyes pales in comparison when seeing you with my own eyes as you are now," He said to Harry whose eyes widened. "Oh yes… the first time I saw you was through Barty Crouche's eyes, and then this past month through Nagini's eyes."

"Y-you mean…"

"Yes Harry I have seen quite a lot of your life with the Malfoys' including the night you were revealed to them," Harry wasn't so sure he liked any of this, but for some odd reason he wasn't bothered by it.

"The dark lord watches his nemesis sleep? Kind of out of character for you isn't it?" Harry said before he thought his words through. He wanted to slap his palm to his face at that moment, but since it was already out in the open he decided to just go ahead and let his Gryffindor courage to pull him along.

Harry blinked when he was amusement instead of malice slip over the man's features, "Yes quite."

"So you admit watching me sleep?"

"I neither admitted nor denied that, Potter… Or should I call you Black now? Either way it does not matter to me, for I do not wish to kill you. You see I found that having you with me rather than against me, is a lot more beneficial," Amusement still flickered in those eyes, "Oh yes, Potter I do not wish to off you. As a matter of fact I have a proposition for you, since it has come to my attention on a few things and I would like to induct you into my fold."

"You want me to become a death eater?"

Voldemort looked to Narcissa and Lucius, "Both of you will speak nothing of this am I clear?"

"Yes my lord," the both chimed before Voldemort continued. Obviously he was allowing them to hear what he was about to tell Harry. He didn't know why the man was allowing it, but he was so he wasn't going to argue that matter in the least.

"You will not be marked as a death eater, instead I want you to wear this," He pulled something from a drawer and dropped it onto the desk surface.

It was a large obsidian metallic ring on the inside of the ring was the symbol of the dark lord, possibly to keep it hidden from other people's eyes from seeing it. The same symbol that was burned into his death eaters left forearms. Even though he had said he hadn't wanted to mark him, he felt as though the man was trying to collar him now. His green eyes lifted from the item to Voldemort.

"You wish to collar me?"

"In a manner of speaking… yes."

"Why? When you can do the same with marking me."

"That is simple, because your mind would never be ready for it. This collar, as you put it, is to give you a bit more freedom then the normal death eaters. It will be a sign of your worth to our cause, and your status…"

"Great so does this make me your pet then?" He asked sarcastically, courage weighing into irritation.

Voldemort smirked, "In a way it might be, but then again maybe not. I will leave you to decide that."

Harry looked at him then the collar and didn't know if what the man had said was a hint to something or a warning. Either way Harry wasn't going to take it until he knew all that it did, "What else have you done to it?"

"I am glad you asked," He said once again stroking Nagini's head lightly, "This item works similar to the Morsmordre mark that the death eaters hold on the forearms. It will grow hot when I need you, but in yours it will not cause pain, just discomfort. It will also force apparate you if I choose to do so, not matter what you are doing. The collar will keep your secrets from others, and you will be unable to speak of your and my own to others, who do not know of them. It is why I let Narcissa and Lucius in here. I want them to key into this device to keep them bound to it as well, and I suspect that young Malfoy will be, needing to do so to. I will teach you the spell that will key him in when the time comes. Also this collar can hold glamours you can create for it, It can hold up to four, and you can save those glamours under a parseltongue word that will activate that specific glamour," Voldemort stated, "Know this Harry, this collar is a privilege… make me believe you deserve it and it will not become a binding one."

Seemingly satisfied with the answer Harry stepped forward and let his fingers glide over the cool metal, before picking it up. He looked to Voldemort, "It looks as though it snaps on but not off. How will I get it off?"

**-Simple, speak open in parseltongue and it will do so-** Voldemort said to him.

Harry clipped it close and spoke the words to make sure, and was satisfied when it did so. He placed it around his neck and clicked it in place, which was when Voldemort chose to speak, "Oh, I almost forgot the collar will also make you unable to lie to me when we speak to one another."

Harry's eyes went wide, "You bastard you tricked me."

Voldemort smirked, "Can't give you too much freedom now can I? On another note now that you have it on, it will also send a signal to this." He placed a ring on the table in front of him. "It will allow me to know when and if you are in danger. Your collar holds some protection wards, but it cannot defend you against more powerful spells. Finite Incantatem will be ineffective on any of your glamours, or other spells that the spell can get rid of, if you have any on your person. Also while you are angry, irritated, or any emotions of the like, are coming from you emotionally you will not be able to take it off regardless of the parseltongue word to open it."

Harry was still openly glaring at the man, and he knew the man had intentionally left out certain parts before giving him the damn thing and having him put it on. Harry closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, "You are a right bastard, you know that?"

"So I've heard."

Harry looked at him with a bemused look and Voldemort only smirked at him, "Right, of course you have…" He mumbled as he looked away.

"Now that, that has been dealt with we will move onto the next piece of business. My plans for this war have changed, thanks to you of course Harry. Your conversations with Nagini were most enlightening and got me thinking. You are right that there is no way to get rid of the muggles, so I decided to take another route. I will not be needlessly killing muggles, but even so I do not have to like them regardless of this change in plans," He hissed at Harry's smug look, "But I need you to be a part of a ritual Harry. I had planned on using you while you were still a part of the light, during the Triwizard Tournament, but you vanished before it could take place. Since you might be more inclined and willing to help I have decided to tweak the previous ritual and found it would be more powerful to have you co-operate rather than having it being forced."

"What would you have me do?" He asked curious now. He'd already decided to join the man if he'd give him the chance to, and since he had he'd resigned himself to whatever fate he would have now.

"I have the ritual area set up in the ball room, Pettigrew and Barty will be there to smooth the process along. Narcissa and Lucius will be able to attend if you wish," At that Harry nodded. "Good, go to the room now, Pettigrew should be waiting at the bottom of the stairs for you. I will be there shortly to tell you, your roll Harry."

Harry made an affirmation sound and turned to walk out of the room, pausing at the door for Lucius and Narcissa who left as soon as Voldemort dismissed them. He felt his nerves creep in on him again as soon as he was away from the room. His hands were trembling as the effects of his small burst of courage wore off. Before they could proceed to the stairs Narcissa pulled him into a fierce hug.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry… I don't know what came over me…"

"He could have killed you Orion, I swear you have some very uncanny luck. Oh… I'm just glad you are all right," She said in his hair as she held him and Harry's features softened as he hugged her back.

"Come must not dally Narcissa the dark lord will not be long," Lucius said watching them with a fond smile on his features.

They nodded and started their walk to the stairs before descending them to the lower level of the mansion. As Voldemort had said Wormtail was at the base of the stairwell waiting for them silently as he shifted on his feet nervously. He led them to the ball room, and as the doors opened they noted rune like symbols on the floor of the area, and there were three other runes around the area as well. Two of the rune circles, had items in it. One had a bowl with some kind of ashen powder while another had a plate of some kind of ingredient. In the last circle was a cauldron. Harry's eyes drifted to the center of the huge rune, where a small mat sat with an empty bowl in front of it. He was studying the runes on the floor when the doors opened again to reveal a tall man with messy straw blond hair. His eyes were almost wild like and his appearance was bit haggard looking. His tongue darted out of his mouth a few times before his chocolate brown eyes landed on Harry, and his smile grew before wandering over to them.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Black," Barty said avoiding the boys last name.

"Your Crouch then right?"

"Please call be Barty and to be truthful I wasn't sure you would go through with any of this, but I'm glad you are," He smirked even wider that made Harry shiver slightly.

"Well If I'm to call you Barty then please call me Orion," Harry said to that man and Barty nodded, before he turned to the sound of the doors opening once again.

Voldemort floated in on his chair, Nagini still draped over the back of it as though she simply belonged there, and in all intents and purposes she did. He beckoned Harry over to him and spoke in soft tones to him about his job in the ritual. He was to carve small runes in his hands and in the middle of his chest with a small blade, Voldemort had handed to him. In parseltongue he was to chant a small incantation as he bled out on the small white mat. The wounds would automatically heal when the spell was done, Harry's dragon healing would be unable to get in the way of completing the ritual and that was what the blood carved runes were supposed to cause to make it stop. Harry swallowed thickly, he was used to pain, but it didn't mean he had to like inflicting it on himself. Breathing deeply Voldemort had Harry read the incantation and rune signs, several times before Harry was even ready to start the ritual off.

Harry had been reassured that he wouldn't bleed out to death, but he wasn't so sure he could believe it at all. Never the less he walked into the rune and kneeled down on the matt. Taking a deep breath he started to carve the runes into his left hand as he started the incantation, forcing himself not to whimper so he didn't mess the ritual up a she did so. He moved to the next hand as he continued chanting in parseltongue, though by the time he made it to the run for his chest his hands were shaking back enough that he'd feared he would mess up the rune. He'd forced his hands to steady as he carved the last rune. Once complete Harry put the blade down and held his hands out in front of him, palms up, he watched as blood trickled from either side of his hand, as he finished the last few sentences to the incantation. As he watched his blood leave him he noted that the bowl in front of him was slowly filling with his life's blood. Possibly being drawn to the bowl through some kind of magic Harry knew not of yet. He noticed something out of the corner of his eyes and glanced over to see Barty who had set a fire alight beneath the cauldron. Wormtail was holding the dark lords homunculus form in his trembling hands, before he dropped the dark lord into the cauldron when the water started to boil. As soon as he touched the water Harry watched in awe as the items on the outer area of the runes lifted into the air and over to the cauldron where they dropped into the boiling mix, along with the blood that had been bled from his body.

Harry didn't notice when the wounds had closed and he was scar free of the runes he'd carved into his flesh. He wavered and found himself sitting on his legs, his hands down at his sides feeling quite heavy and lifeless as he watched in fascination as dark tendrils of magic licked at the cauldron and they acted as though they were welcoming home a long lost relative. The magic gradually grew stronger, to the point it made Harry's mind swim and his body tremble. His sensitivity to magic causing the dark feeling of the man's magic to be much, much, worse than it did to most. His green eyes half lidded and misted over in fatigue and exhaustion. He watched as those tendrils grew in intensity and then exploded before settling as a form rose from the concoction in the cauldron.

He watched as pallor grey liquid appeared and solidified into skin, that looked stretched as the skeleton of the being was constructed. Snake like features showed up and Harry found himself a bit fearful of the look as he watched long bony flinger come up to run along the side of his face as he took a breath. It wasn't long after that, that the features changed once more giving the man a more human look, and his skin gained a bit of color to it. Black hair came forth from the bald skull, and it lengthened to his shoulders. When his eyes opened the eyes that stared straight at his wavering form, were still the crimson blood color they'd been before. He smirked as he climbed out of the cauldron, Barty placing a robe on their lord to hide himself from view.

Harry on the other hand had gotten a good view of the dark lord in all his naked glory. He was sure that if he wasn't so tired and daze by the man's magic he probably would have thought more about it, but he couldn't. It also didn't register in his mind the man before him looked like an older Tom Marvolo Riddle, though he resembled his mid-twenties rather than the seventy one year old dark lord he knew. A shiver raced down his spine as the dark lords magic wrapped around him like a vice, and he gave a small whimper to it. Dark red eyes locked on him before approaching him, not at all noticing the vial he'd taken from Barty as he approached. When he made it to Harry he was practically slumped where he sat. Voldemort crouched down to where Harry was and lifted the boy's chin before placing the opening of the vial to his lips.

"Drink Harry… It will replenish the blood you've lost," He said to him.

Harry shivered slightly, but none the less complied as the contents were poured down his throat. Once he was done he vanished the vile and lifted Harry bridle style into his arms. Narcissa looked ready to run to the boy as the dark lord carried him across the room, as he spoke to them. He told them that Harry would be staying the night at his manor and that they should go home for the time being. Before the dark lord even left the room Harry was already fast asleep unable to keep himself awake as his fatigue seemed to crush him. The rebirth had been successful, and his war would begin once more. For now however he needed to take care of his precious little dragon. He had many plans for him, and everything would come in due time. A little patience was all he needed and though the dark lord was not a patient man, he was willing to be so for the boy in his arms.

* * *

_**Next Chapter**__- Mischief Managed_

_**Well everyone that is it for this chapter. Looking forward to your R&R's. See you all soon!**_


	7. Mischief Managed

**Hello lovely Readers**

**Here is the next installment of A shadowed Life everyone. **

**Stardust of Orion: Thanks, yeah I liked the idea of them helping him instead of being against him. It is also a lot more fun to have them together rather than against each other. I can come up with all sorts of scenarios' that could cause some amusing events into play. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. -chuckles- as for the resurrection, I thought it was amusing to do it that way. I got a kick out of creating the scene.**

**tdjs: Your welcome :3 -laughs- Yeah at first I wasn't so sure if I wanted a collar or not, but it just seemed to fit. In another story someone had used a fidelity ring on him and the mark, but I wanted something a bit different for Harry. It think it worked out in just the right way -chuckles- Yeah I also think Lucius would have strong ties to want to keep his family alive and well. I'm leaning more towards Harry being a literal family member in a sense, just without the families last name. Mostly to keep a name sake he feels safest with, like his godfathers family name. Also thanks, I try to leave as little to the imagination as possible, to keep people guessing :D**

**That's it for now folks. I look forward to things you have to say about it. Enjoy!**

Things in the story you might want to know.

"Talking/ spells"

_'Thinking/ sound affects/ Memories'_

_**-Parseltongue-**_

**.:**Spells**:.**

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**Chapter Seven**- _Mischief Managed_

It had been two months since he last had word from his pup. He was well hidden away from Aurors and anyone who would have him turned in. He had heard very little from Dumbledore on the whereabouts of his godson, and he was getting anxious with each passing day. He wanted to be out there searching for him, but was unable too. Instead he was stuck in one of the Black estate homes, one that he had given to Lupin for his furry little problem. The man was just as anxious has he was to find their pup. Sirius watched the clouds outside as the day grew dark with the threat of rain. His mood just as gloomy as his eyes trailed over the horizon. Something hadn't been right, since the first day the Dursleys' house had burned down and Sirius wanted nothing more than to find out what.

"Sirius, worrying about the situation isn't going to fix it," Moody said softly from behind him.

"I know Moony, I just can't help it. Harry is out there somewhere and Dumbledore hasn't said much of anything about him in two months," Sirius said as he glanced over his shoulder to the man.

Green eyes stared back at sorrowful grey ones, "I know Siri', but what can we do? If Dumbledore is unable to find him then I don't think even we can."

Sirius sighed, "But what if we could? We aren't like Dumbledore Moony, we could track Harry in a way that Dumbledore couldn't."

"How so?"

"You forget so easily Moony you are not normal, you have senses heightened beyond that of the norm. In my dog form I do as well, we could track him that way," Sirius turned to him with pleading eyes.

"You can't be serious…"

"Oh but I am Sirius," the man smirked in small humor, joking about his name sake, "Moony I know how dangerous that could be for you. I just can't sit here and hope that he turns up, I have to be moving and searching. If something happened to him I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. I already lost James and Lilly, I don't want to lose him too."

Remus sighed and pulled Sirius into a warm hug, "Okay you win. We'll search for him, I won't stop you and if you're going I'm going with you."

"Thanks Remy, I knew I could count on you to understand," Sirius said looking at the man.

"Of course, anyways let's get moving the next full moon is in a couple of weeks. Hopefully by then we would have made some progress.

Sirius nodded and they gathered a few things to take with them, before leaving the small cottage in the middle of nowhere to start their search for their little pup. They appeared before the house on Private Drive, or what remained of the once upon a time home Harry had been living in over the summer breaks. Sirius looked upon the charred remains with a critical eye before something caught his eye in what he assumed had been the back yard at one point. A white feathered owl sat in the tree staring at them with wide amber eyes at them. Hedwig was alive and well, seemingly having only been there for a few moments now looking rather daze and confused. She hooted at the two before Sirius approached her, lifting up his arm for her to perch herself on.

"Hedwig, you can't find Harry either can you girl?" She only hooted at him in a confirmation sort of way before nipping at his fingers lightly. "I know girl we'll find him I promise," He said as he stroked the top of her head.

She gave him a look that he thought was an approving one, before he sent her on her way to his and Remus's place. He watched her go before Sirius looked to Remus, who was already sifting through the burned remains of the house, trying to pick up a scent that was Harry's. It was quite difficult considering the tail would be two months old, let alone still covered by the burned smell of flesh and wood. It was thick in the air still even after two months. Fire always left a distinct scent that seemed to permeate the air. Remus seemed about to give up and move to the yard when a strange scent caught his nose. At first he had passed it of as the fire burned remains of the house, but that was quiet unlikely, since this burnt smell had a sweeter scent to it.

Remus blinked a few times and motioned Sirius over to where he was standing. Sirius looked at him curiously before the man spoke, "I need you to scent this area and tell you what you smell."

Sirius had already cast a notice me not spell on them before they'd gotten there, so it was safe for him to change into his animagus. His body changed to that of a dog, leaving behind his clothes as he sniffed out the area. Upon finishing up sniffing at the area, Sirius seemed to become just as puzzled as Remus had, and without much warning Sirius started to follow said trail to the back of the housing area. Remus scooped up Sirius's clothes figuring the man wasn't going to stop following the trail. It trailed across the back yard and through other people's back yards before diverting to the road side. Whatever the cent was it was still strong and had that same flame smell, but it wasn't the smoky scent normal fires had. This scent was warm and thriving, with a sweet scent of spring in it mixed with the scent of Lilies' that Remus and Sirius associated with Harry's scent. They didn't know where the tail would lead them, but they were bound and determined to follow it none the less.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

The oft gentle feeling of fingers brushing against his bangs slowly roused him from his slumber. His body felt heavy with sleepy, as he slowly came too. Vivid green eyes peeked from between pull lashes, as the color was lightly dulled with the haze of sleep. His senses seemed a bit muffled to him, and his thought foggy with the signed of sleep. Most times it never took him this long to be fully awake and alert, why was he not so now? It was at this point memories of the other day started to flit behind his eyes. His fogged mind quickly cleared, and his sleep dulled eyes brightened as his whole body seem to jerk to life. His eyes snapped wide open as he looked up at the one who had been languidly stroking his hair.

Crimson blood colored eyes stared into his Avada Kedavra green orbs. A smirk was on the man's lips as though he found the situation quite amusing. Here Harry was, sleeping soundly in the dark lord's lap. Voldemort had at some point carried him to some room in the manor and had layed him down on the bed, only to place a couple of pillows in his lap for Harry to lay comfortably on as said man watched him sleep. He blinked a few times before he decided to speak to the dark lord.

"I'm starting to think you have a fetish in watching others sleep," he said hoarsely, his voice still heavy with sleep.

Voldemort chuckled, "I'm afraid not, for it is only with you that I do as such."

"Yay me," He grimaced, but didn't try to move away from the man.

It felt soothing to be where he was, almost as though he had no care in the world and he felt undoubtedly safe. Voldemort didn't seem to mind either, though Harry wasn't all that sure as to why the man was even treating him the way he was, but it felt pleasant none the less. Harry felt those fingers combing through his hair slowly, yet languidly as he layed there, and it felt as though those fingers would send him back into the sweet embrace of sleep once more. Though it seemed as though Voldemort had other plans and the silence that had settled between them get broken once more.

"You haven't figured out what you are, have you?" Harry's eyes snapped back open after having fallen closed at one point during their silence.

"No, I couldn't find anything that described what I am," Harry stated with a puzzled look on his face.

Voldemort seemed to think for only a brief moment before he flicked his wrist and summoned the same book he'd read the first day he'd been informed of the boy's appearance. He flipped to the page he needed and shoved the book into Harry's hands, once he'd sat up. Harry was about to start reading, until Voldemort pulled him onto his lap, on top of the pillows and wrapping his arms languidly around his form before resting his chin on his shoulder. All of this made Harry blush a bright crimson color, and he knew he couldn't hide it from the other has he'd wanted too. He heard the soft chuckle before he lifted his head pressed Harry back against him so he could start reading. The man's right hand coming up to stroke long fingers through silky locks of hair.

Voldemort ordered him to read, and Harry expressed his annoyance at the man's demanding tone. Once Harry started to relax did he really start to read the words on the pages before him. He was silent for a long time as he read over descriptions of the race he was related to, as his mind started ticking off other things the passages also mentioned about his physical capabilities, possible character traits he would inherit, as well as some impossible probabilities. Harry couldn't believe what he was reading, and from a few things Voldemort had said during his time reading these things that this book was possibly the only remaining book of its kind. When Voldemort had found it, it was practically falling apart, and he'd taken great care in restoring it to its former glory.

He firmly believed in knowledge being the key to power as much as being strongly magical. Mental strength was something most people lacked, and having such knowledge made a person powerful. Harry had simply rolled his eyes at that notion, and he knew for a fact there was a lot you could learn that wasn't found in books. Books could only give you so much, before your given a situation you know nothing about. Once Harry was finished with the passages before him, he sat and thought about them and Voldemort stayed quiet to allow him to think them over.

"So this book says that I'm a descendant of a dragon race of some kind, but since they have no recordings of successful magic bonding then I have no clue as to which dragon it could have been?" Harry stated softly, "It kind of reminds me of human stories of Drakes, though I used to think that such things were impossible."

"Nothing is ever impossible Harry as long as there is magic out there that can make it possible," Voldemort said to him.

"So this passage," Harry said as he ran his fingers over the page, "Is this passage here possible then?"

"Do you mean the passage about you being able to conceive a child of your own?" Harry blushed and nodded his head, "Then yes, Harry, it is possible."

"Is that why you want me on your side then?"

Voldemort thought on that, "At first it had been the reason, because it would ensure you were bound to me. Your kind mates for life Harry… and me taking you in such a way would have made you mine."

Harry felt saddened by these words, of course the dark lord didn't think of him as anything else other than an object. He should have known better, but he couldn't help but hope that the man just wanted him out of another reason. Other than the fact the Harry was powerful now, and that he was able to bare his child. It was at that moment that the meaning of the collar sunk into his mind and his thoughts ran away with it. Depression set in even more as he thought of its implications. The collar was a way of claiming him he was a pet, a possible whore to the man, or even a slave to said man. Harry was locked so tight in his depressing thoughts that he didn't notice the hand that was now lifting his jaw, effectively snapping him out of said thoughts.

"If you are thinking that I only wanted you to be my whore then stop that thought right where it is. I admit you are a powerful creature in your own right, I admit that I had thought about using this gift of yours to ensure you stay by my side, but do not think of you as a whore or a slave. A pet maybe, because I am fond of you, and thanks to my ability to see through Nagini's eyes I was able to watch you as you lived with the Malfoys' before I ever knew you were The-Boy-Who-Lived. I may be a cold hearted bastard at times, but I do know when to be remorseful. Especially to my enemy who has suffered so much more than even he himself is willing to admit." Voldemort trailed a finger over the metal band as he spoke, causing Harry's Adams apple to bob lightly as he swallowed thickly, "Harry… I am quiet fond of you now, and I have grown quite attached to the timid boy I have seen in the eyes of another for the past two months. You are a precious gem worth seeking out and knowing."

Harry's eyes stared up at him, a fine blush running across his feathers as he looked away, "Why?"

"Harry, no one needs a reason as to why they do or say things all the time. I pursue you because I want too because, I am unsure of the sensations you stir within this cold dark heart of mine. I even believe that, that fool of a man probably even has you thinking I am incapable of feeling emotions. I can assure you that I can in fact feel emotions they are just infinitely harder for me to understand. As it is possibly for you as well," He said stroking the side of his face.

Harry felt deflated at that, "Yeah, you may be right about that."

Harry didn't know what love was, and neither did Voldemort and both, knew of affection. They knew of hate, hunger, loneliness, sorrow, darkness, and pain. Love, was one thing neither knew of and had only found variations that was not love. Harry closed the book and put it aside before shifting in Voldemort's lap, making him sit side ways to where he could bury his face into the older man's chest. He could feel the man's cooler body temperature, then again to Harry everything felt cooler. Being part dragon, made him even warmer than what he was used to so getting cold didn't happen often for him anymore. Harry closed his eyes and just let the man continue to hold him and stroke his fingers through hair that slipped like a water fall between his long fingers. The slightly curled ends of the strands, lapped at his fingers as the slipped across them.

"Harry… My little dragon… My young Orion Black, it is about time that you return to the Malfoys'," He said softly to him, "I would like you to start going back to Hogwarts as well."

Panic laced Harry's whole being, "But-"

Voldemort placed his fingers under Harry's chin, "You will be going back there, just not as Harry Potter or Orion Black. It is why I made this as well," He tapped at the collar. "Remember what I told you about the glamours? They are to be full body glamours that will hide who you are from anyone. No one but you and I can remove your collar, and only those trusted with the secret will be keyed into your collar to who you truly are. Narcissa and Lucius because, they will be your family now from here on out, and if things go right with Draco this winter then I suspect that you will also have him keyed in as well. Now… you will be studying for the few months you have missed school. I have told Lucius that he is to find you proper instructors, and I don't care if you have passed your owls already." He smirked when the protest that was on Harry's tongue died out, "Lucius will also come up with a proper story to your life for the glamour you choose to be your Hogwarts glamour. You will memorize it so as to not mix up the stories you already have out there for your Orion Black name. Your name for your Hogwarts glamour must not be something others can identify. Think wisely on this name, it was luck that made your Orion Black name to be so well cemented as it was."

Harry sighed, "You make it sound like I can't handle myself."

Voldemort chuckled, "I am just stating facts Harry."

"Bastard," He mumbled softly.

Voldemort chuckled in amusement, "For now my thoughts on the war are to lie low until I can gather my forces once more. It will not do for Dumbledore knowing that I am truly back."

"Well… If Snape is one of your death eaters then I should suggest keeping him out of anything until you wish to reveal yourself."

"Severus? Why should I?"

"I dun know, he's just so shifty. I wouldn't put it past him to let it slip to Dumbledore that your back. He's a greasy little git that thrives off making me miserable during school, just because I look like my dad," Harry said to him, which Voldemort hummed in thought over.

"I will keep him out of it then, if you feel certain about his loyalties having been easily swayed," He said to him. "We will have to find some way to see if his loyalties have changed. I will see what I can find to get such information from him. In the mean time I will make preparations, now go Harry Narcissa is probably worried and anxious to see how you are doing."

Harry sighed and nodded before slipping from the man's lap. He waited for the man to stand and they walked to the fire place where Harry knew he would be using the floo. He didn't like the floo system because he always seemed to have troubles with the stupid things. Heck he even messed up on his first time using one, having slid across the floor because he'd miss pronounced his destination. He hoped he wouldn't have an issue with that again. It was during these weary thoughts that Voldemort did something unexpected, as he placed a gentle kiss upon to top of his head.

"See you later, Harry."

Harry turned slightly and looked up at said man with wide green eyes. The slits no longer distinguishable as he stared up at him, his cheeks warmed to a nice light colored blush. He ducked his head after a moment, his bangs hiding his face as he backed up towards the fireplace and absentmindedly grabbed some floo powder before murmuring good bye to him. Then with a louder voice he called out the Malfoy Manor before throwing the powder down, and vanishing in a wild flame of green smoke.

Upon his arrival at the manor he was instantly set upon by a worried Narcissa who was ordering him to take of his shirt and show her his hands, to make sure the knife he'd carved runes into his skin with, hadn't left any scars. It was during this that she said he was lucky that the dark lord had been kind enough to think ahead of time, for the wounds to heal without scaring once his part of the ritual had been completed. His thoughts wandered back to that particular day, when he'd done that and realized he'd been so distracted by other thoughts that he'd completely forgotten to ask the man what the other items in the runes had been for. Sighing he let it go and decided he would ask some other time, but right now he was getting lectured about healing and being so careless.

He had to admit though, that he liked that fact that someone cared enough to lecture him like this. It was very heart warming, not to mention both Narcissa and Lucius had been ready to throw away their loyalty to the dark lord just for him. He sheepishly smiled at Narcissa as she huffed and enveloped him in another comforting hug, before telling him that she was glad he was okay. Lucius walked in not shortly after all this had taken place. Lucius told him that he'd teach him the basics he'd missed so far for the classes that the school had open for his year, but would have a teacher in dueling when he wasn't at school. This person would likely be around during the holidays as well as during the summer to teach him dueling. Harry had to admit he wasn't good at dueling, but he was a bit decent if his battle against Draco had been anything to go by during the chamber of secrets incident.

This brought along the thoughts about Draco he'd been avoiding for quite some time. He didn't know how this would go or if he would succeed in making the boy understand his reasons, but he knew he just had to try. Even if it meant he would only cause his old enemy to stay as an enemy. He looked to Narcissa when she snapped him out of his thoughts about her son. She told him she would teach him about healing. Even though he probably didn't need it because of his healing affinity, but it was still good to know when you had comrades that needed to be healed too, if they were ever hurt. Thus started his lessons and they predicted that before the month ended he would be able to go back to Hogwarts.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Sirius just didn't understand it at all, he'd followed the trail all the way to the busy streets of London, to the Leaky Cauldron, where the scent led up to a room and then back down stairs. The scent should have faded over time, unless the scent belonged to that of a creature. Creature scents lasted much longer than a wizards or witches scent, because it was a duller scent out of many. No this one was strong and led them all the way from Harry's burned to the ground safe house, to the Leaky Cauldron, and straight into Dagon Alley. They had spent most of the day trying to get past people and not to draw suspicion to Sirius himself as. Remus seemed a bit on edge, remembering back on something that had been said upon the day Harry had disappeared. Sirius kept following the trail with Lupin hot on his tail, as eventually his trail led him to Knockturn Alley. He sniffed the area and picked up faint traces of Ron and Hermione. Remus had frozen, because he too had smelled it.

Remus was shaking his head as he remembered the words Dumbledore had relayed to them about a young male that Harry's friends had run into not even two months ago, on the exact day after Harry, had gone missing. Mumbling something along the lines of _'It's not possible'_ before, telling Sirius they needed to follow the trail somehow. Though, following a trail that was air born was going to be a hard feat considering the wind could carry the scent over miles of land now that to many days had gone by. When they were unable to follow the scent through the sky they looked for a trace in Knockturn Alley that may have come later. They didn't have to search long, for a trail was found that lead to a place called Reece Creaks, which they soon found out sold wands.

This bit of information told them that the scent they followed either lost their wand or was trying to hide, and bought a new wand that would not easily identify them. This frustrated Lupin because wand makers were touchy about wand information, and would not tell anyone unless they were Aurors or ministry personnel. Giving up the task of prying information from the man alone in the shop they left and followed the trail to Borgin's shop. They didn't dare go in, mostly because the place was creepy and they didn't want to deal with Borgin in the least. By the time the found the end of the trail they realized with dawning horror that several other scents had been detected along the way. One in particular was more worrisome then the other three. For it was the scent of Lucius Malfoy, and the scent they'd followed had also left with the man.

Sirius looked to Remus who looked as pale as a sheet, their pup could already be dead somewhere. It was that or… to Remus's dawning horror… the one that had been accused of murder, was none other than, Harry Potter, himself. Remus didn't know what was going on, but he wanted to find out so their pup could be safe again once more. The two hurried back to the Leaky Cauldron and Remus bought them a room for the night. Once inside Sirius shifted back into his human form, pulling clothes out of the bag once Remus had set it down.

"This can't be happening Sirius," Remus said to him, "Either another unknown creature got a hold of Harry or Harry himself is no a creature."

"I know Remy," Sirius said to the frustrated were-wolf.

Remus turned to him, "The scent of the one who we were following has to be living with the Malfoys' or is staying there. If it is Harry than he has probably fallen into their hands and we need to help him."

"How do you suggest we do that Moony? He's in the enemy's home. Merlin knows what happens behind those walls."

"I know…"

"We need some form of plan."

"Should we tell Dumbledore?"

"And risk him blowing our chances in seeing Harry again? No… he doesn't need to know."

"But Siri'-"

"No… I lost him once and I will not lose him again. Moony I don't think I trust Dumbledore anymore," Sirius admitted, "This whole thing has been feeling off to me. For once I have been asking myself if I'm even on the right side anymore. Dumbledore has been keeping things from us and now that Harry is involved I just have this bad feeling that something bad is going to happen and I won't be able to protect Harry when that time comes."

"Siri'… Okay we won't tell him, but we will come up with a plan together to save him," He smirked, "We can do it the Marauders way okay?"

Sirius laughed heavily at that, "You got that right Remy, and we have to go and find the youngest Marauder and bring him back to safety."

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Draco sat in the common room waiting for the day to be over, when Crabbe came in with a letter in hand. He handed it to Draco and said male took it. His eyes flitting over the hand writing seeing that it was his father's. He read over the letter a few times before smirking slightly at the words.

_Draco,_

_You will be seeing a new face at Hogwarts soon, I expect you to look after him he will be your new brother. He is older than you, but will be entering into your year with the rest of the others in your year as well. It is of importance that you watch over him and keep him safe, for that plans that involve him are of great importance. He also has been told to answer any questions you have truthfully, but he can withhold information if he thinks it to personal. The headmaster has been told he was an orphan until recently and had been going through homeschooling for the past three years. He was also informed that there are some touchy subjects that the boy may be extremely emotional about and has been warned not to push him too far. I hope to hear from you soon, when you get to meet him. _

_Good luck my son,_

_Lucius Malfoy _

Draco set the letter down in his lap, as he wondered if this new person. This new _'brother'_ of his was possibly Orion in disguise. As far as he could tell the man was a genius and if their lord was indeed back, then he was having no doubts that the dark lord would want someone powerful enough on the inside of Hogwarts to aid him when the time came. Crabbe looked at him with a questioning look.

"It seems that we'll be having a new student at Hogwarts soon," Draco said to the others in the room.

Pansy and Blaise had bee, over in the corner talking to each other when he'd spoken their heads snapping up to look at him at the same time Theodore, Goyle, and Bulstrode did.

"Who?" Pansy asked.

"Father said that only that it was a new student. He didn't tell me his name or anything on what he looked like, but I have a feeling on who it could be," Draco said to them.

"Who do you think it is?" Theo asked.

"I think it may be Orion," Pansy gasped at those words.

"Orion? Isn't he the bloke your parents speak about often?" Goyle asked.

"Yes Goyle the very same one."

"Why would he come here? Didn't your dad say he passed his owls?" Crabbe asked next.

"Yes, but if he is part of a plan for our cause then his reasons for coming here are to be kept secret is that clear?" He heard a bunch of yeses' pass around the room, "Good, father says he will be attending under the guise as my brother, though he is older than me he will be entering into our year. Judging by what he's said about Orion in the past, I suspect he will be placed in Slytherin. You will treat him with the respect he deserves. The man has practically carved a name for himself with his bare hands. If our lord has returned then there is no doubt that he has taken him into our fold and might be of the few he will considered privileged in his group, and has possibly become one of the inner circle already."

They all nodded, having already started hearing whispers of the man's name and his accomplishments. Draco couldn't wait to see just what his parents had been seeing when they were around the young man. He knew the man would be interesting, maybe he could liven this pathetic and boring school up a bit.

Days went by show of the one his father had told him about, he was wondering if the month was going to be other by the time that this guy showed the heck up. It was on the beginning of the third week that he finally did show up. The robes he wore were the brilliant green of the Slytherin house. His hair color had been changed to a silver blond color, long strands braided into a need braid, possibly done by his mother. Draco always remembered the way she had gushed in her letters over the boy's hair. Draco felt sorry for him because, he knew mom had always wanted to have a girl, but could never have one after Draco was born.

As Draco let his eyes trail over the other, he realized the others face was angular and sharp. Not showing any of the Black traits, the glamour that was in place obviously covered anything that could identify him for who he was. His eyes were a pale blue color, almost making them look white in color. His height had been shortened to make him fit into the height range of the year he was to be in. He remembered his mother had said that he was rather tale, even so it seemed that the other male tried to make himself a bit on the tall side, obviously a residual effect to not wanting to be short again which, meant that at some point, Orion, had been a very short person growing up.

Draco sneered as he watched the old man lead him into the great hall. Orion on his part stayed out of touching range. That alone was peculiar, because most people didn't mind being touched. While Orion seemed to avoid being touched, even it was just the headmaster. Most would just put up with it, but Orion didn't seem to want too. Once up front Dumbledore raised his hands up and the hall quieted.

"We have a new student with us, and I would like to introduce him to you all. He has been home schooled and his adoptive family has asked that he come to our school to finish his curriculum of learning. His name is Evan Spring and he has been adopted into the Malfoy family, but had insisted that he keep the name his parents had given him. I expect you all to give him a warm welcome and make him feel at home," Dumbledore looked to _'Evan'_ with a grandfatherly smile, and he gave a smile in return, before looking back at the others. "Now there is caution to be had. Evan here has had a traumatic past and it has come to my attention that you all keep personal questions to a healthy level."

He went to touch Evan's shoulder, but he jerked away from the touch before it even landed on him. The boy mumbled a sorry, but did not look up at the headmaster who only smiled gently in a comforting way. Draco couldn't help but marvel at the boy's talent at acting. He seemed to convincing in his act that not anyone could dispute it if they didn't have an inkling as to who he was. Evan bowed slightly in respect and turned to head over to the Slytherin table, where Draco waved him over. Evan didn't hesitate and sat down next to him, the other Slytherins instantly launching into questions. They were silly things that normal dorm mates would ask, like favorite Quidditch team or what he liked doing in his spare time.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Harry was starting to feel as nervous as a jack rabbit as he followed the headmaster to the great hall. Everyone would be having breakfast there that morning and he could practically feel his nerves fraying away as they walked. Of course he was staying convincing to the roll Lucius had put for him, which wasn't all that far away from the truth. He was already as jumpy as it was. Being introduced to the whole school the way Dumbledore had done, was definitely not something he had planned on. He kept his eyes down most of the time but glanced over at Draco's table every now and again as well as the Gryffindor table and to the Ravenclaw table where Luna Lovegood sat with a dreamy smile on her face. He looked over to the headmaster when he noticed the man smiling at him and being a reaction he usually gave people when they smiled at him he ended up smiling back. He'd felt a light nudge on his mind and pried his eyes away. He had gotten good at Legilimens and Occlumency, after finding out that not only Dumbledore was a Legilimens, but also Snape as well.

The old man wouldn't get past the shields he's created, yes the collar kept certain things from being found out, but there were other things he wished to keep private as well. Learning these mind spells was enough to help him protect just that. When he was able to go to the Slytherin table he flinched away from the contact that Dumbledore seemed determined on getting from him. Harry wasn't going to allow it. He would be fine around other children, but when it came to adults he wouldn't allow the contact. The only ones who touched him or were allowed to where people he trusted or knew well enough that it wouldn't bother him. Dumbledore was a mystery, behind facades and thus did not trust him. When he sat down with the other Slytherins Harry just smiled politely and answered what he could, laughing at some jokes here and there before things settled down.

Draco spoke up, "So how are, mother and father doing?"

"They're doing fine mom's been setting up for the upcoming parties this years. Christmas is going to be spectacular this year," He grinned.

"Yeah, mum always makes a rather amazing party for Christmas every year," Draco said to him.

"I'm sure she does, I must admit though, this will be the first Christmas party I have ever been too."

"You've never been to a Christmas party before Evan?" Pansy asked.

"No I haven't. Christmas in the past I had always spent alone. Matter of fact any part was something I never was privy to in the past," He admitted with a shrug.

"Well then you'll absolutely love the on mother makes Evan," Draco said with a smirk on his features.

Harry saw people watching them out of the corner of his eye. His head slid up and over to those staring at him. His eyes narrowing and his features turned into a slight frown. Ronald Weasley was giving him the most powerful glare he'd seen on the boy. He was slightly hurt that, that stare was turned on him. What had he done know that would cause that? He didn't look like his creature form anymore, let alone Orion Black. So what the heck was his problem?

"Don't mind him Evan," Pansy said to him, "Him and his little gang have been picking fights with anyone who is in Slytherin. Ever since Potter vanished it's like the kid has to try and be like him. I swear even Potter wasn't as annoying as this kid is. I don't even see what he saw in the boy, I mean every year the boy practically turned on him. Like he was jealous or something, now that he's gone and he has his chance to be in the spotlight, he whines about stupid things and point's fingers everywhere he turns."

Harry's face deepened hardened a bit. If that was how Ron was going to be then he didn't need him. He wasn't going to give Weasley any signs that he was Harry, since he seemed to assume just like everyone else that all Slytherins were evil. His eyes went over to Hermione who was frowning at Ron for his rude staring. When she noticed Harry was staring she gave him a soft smile and he smiled back. Ginny who was next to her ignored him, but the twins seemed to share a mischievous smirk with each other. He wasn't so sure he like those smirks in the least, but he smirked back at them anyways and that brightened their smirks even more, before the laughed to each other. Harry continued his gaze down the line to Neville was tentatively looking over at their table slightly interested in the newest addition to their school, before giving a soft smile and looking away again. Harry mentally sighed before he looked to Blaise who'd started talking.

"Wonder what Potter would say if he saw Weasley, acting that way."

"I'd think he would say he was acting like a blood ponce if you ask me," Harry hissed out causing those closest to him to laugh. Blinking a few times he realized that yes those words just flew from his mouth like his filter had been shut off. _'I seem to be doing that a lot as of late,'_ He'd read that dragons were prideful creatures, and often spoke what was on their mind, whether through actions or words itself, either way they got their point across in the end. Oh hell this year was going to only get more interesting if new issues like this kept popping up. He would have to be extremely careful from here on out. He really didn't want to have issues with people because his ability to think before he acted had literally disconnected from his rational thoughts. Harry finished up eating along with the others and they went to their first classes, which surprisingly enough had at least one or two of the Slytherins currently with him taking the same classes with him, except for one. His first class was runes though, and it was the one he was to be taking on his own.

Harry wandered to the class room and sat in a desk towards the back of the classroom. No one else was there yet, so he waited patiently. He pulled a book out of his bag and started to read the script within. He was deep in his thoughts on the subject the book presented when a chair next to him moved. Looking up from his book he was Luna sitting down next to him, followed by Hermione who was sneaking glances at him. _'Heck why not…' _ He thought to himself as he put on a smile.

"Hi I'm Evan Spring," He said reaching his hand out to Luna who shook it as well as Hermione to follow suite afterwards.

"I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Luna Lovegood."

"It is very nice to meet you both."

"So is this your first time in runes?"

"In a runes classroom yes, being taught runes no," he said truthfully, "I was taught most of what I know about runes from Mr. Black."

"Black?"

"Oh Orion Black… He just moved here from Japan about a month or so ago. I don't remember which, but anyways he's like a prodigy or something. He's also planning on becoming a ward maker, which I think is exciting you know?"

"Really?" Hermione seemed to perk tight up at the information.

"Yeah, he's a really amazing person, and a good teacher too, because he explains things so well that they are easy to understand."

"I wish I could meet him, he sounds like a pretty amazing guys."

"I don't know if he would agree with you there. He's not the kind of person who thinks of himself as anything more than average," Which was true, since Harry never ever held himself in high regards.

"Really? People like him should feel accomplished for such a feat at least."

"I heard he had a rough past or something. His mother died at his birth, and his father passed away before he was eleven when they lived in Japan. He was placed in an orphanage for a long time with muggles who abused him," That got Hermione gasping.

"That can't be right…"

Luna cut in before Harry could say anything, "The Nargles are right nasty creatures aren't they Even?"

"Yes they are Luna, but not all are so."

"Indeed Evan, probably because, the Wrackspurts are keeping them preoccupied."

"What?" Hermione asked looking at them both confused. Luna only gave a dreamy smile and Harry laughed.

"She was just stating the truth Hermione, Orion's been through a lot. If you do meet him say hi okay, he likes having a friendly face to speak to every once in a while," Harry said before turning to the teacher as the class started up, effectively cutting off anymore conversation in the class room.

The rest of the class went rather smoothly and Harry found himself enjoying this year. Yes there were a few stares, nothing he couldn't handle. These stares were nothing like the ones he'd gotten when he was The-Boy-Who-Lived. Besides just that most of Harry's day had gone quiet okay… that was until Ron cornered him a Draco in the hall. Pansy and the others weren't going to be done this hall at this time, so they were pretty much on their own. He had Neville and some other kid Harry didn't know, but it looked like his face had been used as a football at one point.

"Hey faggot," Harry quirked a brow at this and looked around before pointing at himself, "Yes you, you stupid ponce."

"if anyone is a ponce here is you little weasel," Harry said, once again his filter shut off. His face was slack from and friendly emotions. He'd tried really he had, but it seemed the red head was just one of those people who you would never be able to please.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me. Besides only an idiot such as yourself would spout words from their mouth when they don't know the meaning behind them."

"I know exactly what I meant."

"Oh really? Then I am sure you were calling me a cigarette then."

"What no! I was calling you a faggot."

"Okay it seems a literacy lesson is needed here. Faggot was intended to be a word for cigarette. Homophobic people with the intelligence of a mushroom turned it into slang for gay people or homosexuals. So I am sticking with the original wording for it."

Ron's face was slack, his mouth hung open and Harry wondered what would happen if he just picked something up and threw it in his mouth just to see if he would notice. It took a few moments before his jaw snapped shut and he ground his teeth in anger. He got up in Harry's face, and Draco stepped up to defend him, but Ron turned to him and told him to sod off.

"Damn it you knew what I meant, Spring" Ron roughly grabbed the front of his robs, and Harry's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Maybe I did, but you lack of intelligence obviously called for a well needed lesson."

"Why you…" Ron hauled off a punch to Harry's face, making it snap to the side.

Harry blinked wide eyed for a moment, at first the emotion in his eyes was pure fear. Almost as though the boy's mind had been taken out on memory lane, however, those emotions started to die away as it slowly turned hostile. His dragon side did not like being challenged, not by a lowly human at least. When those eyes looked at Ron, from the corner of his eyes he noted that Ron was becoming weary of him as time drew on. Harry had taken the punch, and with his head still turned to the side was staring at him with hostile narrowed eyes. Suddenly there was a yelp as Ron let go of him, and Harry straightened out his stance to look at Ron. A bruise was already starting to form when Harry waved a hand over his face, and said a minor healing spell, to which the bruise vanished quickly.

"Be lucky that little shock was all you got Ronald! Next time you won't be so lucky," He growled out.

He didn't look at any of the group that was there as he walked past them, Draco hot on his heals as they walked away from the trio. Draco was quiet for a long time before he spoke, "Not sure that was a good Idea Evan."

"With Weasley, nothing is ever a good idea."

"Can't argue with that and I think your reaction was what puzzled him into silence."

"What do you mean?"

"Your eyes got all distant and fearful, like you were remembering something and then all of the sudden you were cold… well not really it was more like a blazing inferno of rage."

"It seems I don't react well to violence I guess," He was obviously wanting the boy to drop it and he did, but he knew it wouldn't last for long.

Harry knew this year was going to be a long one, and that next time Ron will come back with even more aggression. Harry wasn't looking forward to it he was having enough issues has it was. He lifted his hand to the metallic collar, that couldn't be disguised while in any of his glamours. It didn't bother him everyone could see it, instead of it being annoying or hindering he found it quite comforting in a way. Draco eyes it but said nothing, as the continued their trek. Oh yes… things her at Hogwarts would cause Harry to either lost his mind, or cause him more trouble then it was worth.

* * *

_**Next Chapter**__- Winter Soul_

_**Well everyone that is it for this chapter. Looking forward to your R&R's. See you all soon!**_


	8. Winter Soul

**Hello lovely Readers**

**Here is the next installment of A shadowed Life everyone. You guys keep surprising me with you constant feedback and to be honest I'm not used to it but I love it greatly. I can honestly say this is a first successful fanfiction I have ever done and it is thanks to all of you. Also I have started working on some sketched to depict what Harry looks like. When I have them finished I will let you all know and post a link for them in my profile. Speaking of which, there is a sketch for the first chapter, to give you a visual of the Crystal egg Harry was in and what he kind of looks like. I'm feeling also a little under the weather, my head hurts like crazy so I'm sorry this chapter is a little late. **

**GarionRiva: Their relationship I guess can go either way then again it might even be a mixture of both as well. Who knows? :3**

**noelnoel2: -laughs- I can't help it when I'm on a role, I just want to keep on truck'n along. I know my previous stories were slow and that was mostly because I was in high school and going through basic training for the Airforce back then. Now that I have more time after being medically discharged I feel I can do a bit more now. Well… in between collage classes that is and this term is going to be rather easy since I have one class each day. I'll be starting said classes next week on Monday, so the story writing may slow down a bit depending on how exhausted I get with design and media productions classes.**

**I am also thankful you're posting what you think of the individual chapters and I agree the best stories I find are the ones where the Malfoy's are being friendlier with Harry. I rather enjoy writing them as being a friend rather than being his enemy it just seems to be a lot more interesting. For your comments on the chapter where Voldemort spied through Nagini I had deliberated for a while to keep that awkwardness that could occur to a minimum. The ritual and meeting was tricky, I was trying to keep to a set design I had for Harry and his Dragon side. Sometimes I wonder how my fingers are even keeping up with the rambling mess within my skull –chuckles- **

**I was never fond of Ron he wavered too much and let his little jealous monster rule him often. A true friend wouldn't put their friend through emotional hell and abandonment. In a way I can relate to a Harry who turns on a person who betrayed them to many times to count, rather than staying with them only to suffer more by their hand. Trust just didn't seem to be a part of their friend bond, and to me trust is a big issue. Luna and Neville are definitely friends that I know of. Hermione will stay up in the air and Remus and Sirius…well see XD.**

**tdjs: Ha ha yeah seeing them storm Malfoy manor would be funny… I might just use that too. I just got to find a certain way to do so to fit my story just right. As for Remy and Siri… I always thought it odd that they showed unwavering loyalty to a side that always treated them horribly. At least with Voldemort people understood they were being used, rather than not knowing and having bad crap happen to you. Dumbledore often irked me and I wanted to grab his beard and throw him to a wall and tell him he needs to sort himself out because making a child fight for the entire wizarding community without proper training against a highly skilled wizard is just preposterous. **

**The twins are always a riot and they will continue to be so even in this story. I always loved the twins and Ginny was just too damn clingy and well…I don't know I just never liked her… then again I'm a tom boy so girly isn't my thing anyways –laughs- and I never liked Ron either he's a huge ponce that needs a swift kick in the arse. **

**She Who Cannot Be Turned: Yes I know, but Harry was trying to summarize it as a whole with both shortened and elongated words. :3 Thanks for the information on what you thought though. **

**That's it for now folks. I look forward to things you have to say about it. Enjoy!**

Things in the story you might want to know.

"Talking/ spells"

_'Thinking/ sound affects/ Memories'_

_**-Parseltongue-**_

**.:**Spells**:.**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**- _Winter Soul_

Harry was exhausted, and honestly couldn't remember a time being this tired. He usually was resilient enough to have more stamina than most. The twins had, had a right fun time letting lose another joke trap in the hall. Though, it was at the expense of their, own brother and a few other students who'd been unsuspecting. Among those was Harry himself was also present and somehow, he wasn't sure why, but he somehow thought that they had planned it that way on purpose. Probably to keep Harry from literally killing the boy at this point, considering said boy seemed to take it upon himself to try and corner him a lot lately. He hated this side of Ron, and it was starting to grate on his nerves a bit. Was Ron always this pig headed? Bloody ponce probably was he just chose not to notice it till now. Either that or he had not cared enough before now. Now that he thought about it, it was possibly true, considering back then he'd always fought to gain acceptance in every one of the Light's mind. It was still that way to a point, for he always feared how people would react if he ever showed them who he really was. Harry mentally sighed as he slipped into the Slytherin room.

Halloween and Thanksgiving had passed in blur for Harry. Of course during those events Draco brought it upon himself to force the boy to dress his best for those occasions. On Halloween he'd forced Harry to wear a punk outfit with cat ears and a tail to match. Harry wasn't used to this so it was definitely something new, considering someone had talk Dumbledore in allowing there to be a Halloween party coupled with a dance and several fun Halloween activities. The twins had a lot of fun and Harry was happy to see the two coming up with new things. It definitely brought out the bloody gore side of Halloween. It was hilarious watching the teachers freak out over the prank dishes they had created.

On Thanksgiving Draco had made him wear his best robes to the dinner everyone had gone too. The only issue that had cropped up was Ron had confronted him again. It was the first time the boy had cornered him when he was alone. To be honest Harry often separated himself from everyone to have a bit of alone time.

_**Begin-Flashback**_

_Harry had just gotten away from Draco, having the boy fuss over his appearance was a bit annoying and Harry's dragon was getting a bit annoyed. Sighing he walked around the corridors looking for a place for him to be alone. He was just gaining hope when he found one of the abandoned corridors that he remembered from when he was The-Boy-Who-Lived. He made a relieved sound when suddenly a hand gabbed hi shoulder and slammed him against the wall. He gritted his teeth together before his eyes snapped up to blue eyes that are hardened and anger filled them._

"_You can't fool me, you're not as you would have people believe," He spat, "You're nothing but a fake."_

_Harry felt his heart twinge at those words, "Like you know me." _

_Ron narrowed his eyes and sneered, "All Slytherins are the same everyone knows that."_

_Harry's face scrunched up in anger, "Biased words made by biased people."_

_Ron pulled him forwards before slamming him into the wall again, causing his head to smack into the bricks roughly. His vision swam, and he blinked the spots away the best he could, it was a little difficult at first, but as his dragon healing kicked in he found relief. Ron was growling in his throat and his eyes were narrowed on him as they stood there._

"_It's not biased its fact," He growled._

"_And how do you know its fact? Have you ever once tried to get to know another Slytherin, or do you just love harassing every chance you get? From my end it seems you don't even try," Ron seemed to get even angrier at these words and raised his first to hit him._

_Harry let his fist hit him and he let his head fall to the side without much thought in stopping the other from doing so. Instead his eyes just slid to the side to watch him silently, before his hands came up and grabbed both of Ron's wrists. Harry felt a growl build in his gest as he gradually twisted both of the wrists in his hands, applying pressure as he went._

"_See that right there is what I am talking about Weasley. Your so damned pigheaded, stubborn, narrow minded, and incapable of giving people you think are back a second chance," He hissed and the sound of a loud snap could be heard causing Harry to release the boys wrists as he cried out in pain._

_A shiver raced down his spine at the ear splitting scream, but otherwise did not flinch. His face read impassive as he stared at the boy cradling his left wrist. His big blue eyes were welled up with tears. Usually Harry would feel remorseful and would usually instantly being begging for forgiveness, but somehow he felt oddly satisfied and not the least bit sorry for breaking his writs._

_Pale blue eyes watched him silently, "I told you once Weasley that what happened would be nothing compared to last time. This is your second warning, and I will not give a third."_

_Weasley glared up in pain at him, not once backing down and his eyes promised his own thoughts of pain for Harry. Harry turned away and walked down the corridor, not even looking back to see if the boy had gotten up after having kneeled down when his wrist had snapped._

_**End-Flash-Back**_

It possibly hadn't been a practically good idea on his part to provoke the boy any further than he already had. Though, now it seemed like the boys thick headedness just wasn't getting cracked open to reality just yet. Shaking his head he focused more on his own react that he'd created when the confrontation had taken place. He had to be truthful, that his reaction had scared him a bit. In the past he had always taken consideration for everyone's well-being he hadn't liked hurting people regardless of who they were. Ron should be no exception, but he'd done so anyways without remorse or sympathy. He honestly didn't like were his mental and emotional path was taking him.

"Evan see you-"

"Got out of our-"

"Little trap with very few-"

"Problems," Harry turned to the voices and grinned at Fred and George.

"Why of course, do you think me some fell brained idiot that cannot escape from such a joke?" He laughed.

"Not at all unless-"

"You are Ronny-kins, but-"

"As you know he's still back there-"

"Steaming in his hate that he can't-"

"Be like you and escape our trap," They all laughed and Harry walked with them as he listened to their small banter.

"How's Ron's wrist anyways," Harry asked to them.

"Well mum was pretty pissed-"

"About you breaking his wrist-

"But, we told mum-"

"He had it coming and had-"

"Already been warned once to not-"

"Harass you and make assumptions-"

"Of you before he even knew you." The twins finished and Harry sighed.

"Do you think there is a chance he might back off?"

"Not a chance," They chorused together.

"Thought so… Just wish he would leave me alone… Then again it did stop him from bothering the others. I guess he sees me as a bigger threat," He sighed again.

"Ronny thinks-"

"You're a Vampire-"

"And is trying to-"

"Deceive the good folks-"

"Of our dear school of-"

"Hogwarts," The nodded at each other then said together, "But we don't believe him."

Harry sighed, and shook his head, "He's really grating on my nerves and quite frankly I'm not happy with how I'm handling it at all."

"Yes, we know-"

"Since Evan is sweet to all-"

"But when it comes to Ronny-kins"

"Evan loses his cool-"

"And ickle Ronny-kins gets hurt," Both boys looked at him in worry.

Harry felt his shoulder slump a bit, "Honestly I don't want to… but when he confronts me the way he does it's like this other me raises up from the depths within me and I just can't help but do so."

"Sounds like-"

"You need a vacation-"

"Or something of the like," They both patted him on the shoulder before chorusing again, "All will be well Evan just keep your chin up." With that they bid him farewell and left him to his thoughts.

Harry had gotten along with the twins rather fast. The only ones who he hadn't gotten along with from his old group of friends, was Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. Though, he was sure Hermione wanted to get along with him, but was holding back from doing so because of Ron. She always greeted him kindly and such, but didn't try to act friendly if it would cause more harm than good. Harry let his thoughts wander a bit before he rounded a corner and found Draco with Crabbe and Goyle, but what caught his attention was the fact that they had Hermione, Neville, Luna, and Seamus cornered. Seamus was in front of the group and angrily spitting words back at the Slytherins before Draco said a word even he couldn't stand for when Hermione had interjected to speak to him.

Harry took meaningful steps toward them, the Gryffindors' taking notice of him before the other Slytherins' did. Draco turned to see what caught their attention and was met with angered pale blue eyes, which seemed to swirl like a blizzard with how cold they looked. Draco flinched and took a step back looking at Harry with weary eyes before the boy turned his eyes to the others there with them. Seamus stepped back for the cold look had yet to vanish from his eyes.

"I apologize, for the rather rude behavior just displayed. It is shameful that it even happened," He glanced at the Slytherins who ducked their head in a look of embarrassment.

"It's o-okay," Neville stammered and it was at those words that Harry's eyes softened, and people in the immediate area seemed to relax a bit at Harry's soft smile.

"Draco," He turned to the boy with narrowed eyes, "I expect not to hear that word come out of your mouth again. Draco gave him a confused look before Harry clarified, "She is a Muggleborn and a witch just like any other. It does not matter her blood-"

"But she is a mudblood!" Draco exclaimed.

Harry's eyes narrowed and hardened and the atmosphere around them seemed to plummet before feeling like the room had just slipped into an oven. Draco found himself unable to speak as he looked at those eyes that promised him that if he said it again that he may experience pain. Regardless of how close they had gotten over the few months they'd known each other. Harry was a scary person when you pissed him off and quite frankly he hadn't expected that ire to be pointed his direction.

"Never say it again…got it?" Draco nodded as did Crabbe and Goyle as if Harry's anger had been aimed at them as well.

Draco turned to the group quickly, "I'm sorry Granger it won't happen again."

Hermione blinked a few times clearly she didn't know what to say but answered none the less, "Umm okay."

The room seemed to relax as the overwhelming sensation of roasting alive vanished. Draco let out a breath as Evan's mood seemed to even out a bit, before bidding the Gryffindors' good bye. Reluctantly the Slytherins' followed him without looking back at the puzzled group behind them. Harry noted Draco looking at him inquiringly and Harry glanced at him, without a word Draco knew the boy would explain his reactions to the word when they got back to the Slytherin common room. Harry had avoided telling any of them anything about himself, or his fake alias Orion. It was time Orion Black made an appearance to the Slytherins.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Ron was pissed, for days on end he'd been trying to corner that little git. Not only was he getting people in Hogwarts against him, but now he was getting his family to conspire against him and they didn't even know the bastard. Ron growled as he fruitlessly tried to get himself out of his brother's latest trap prank. He'd been furious when Evan had escaped from it rather easily and it fueled his anger even more when the boy had the nerve to smirk back over his shoulder at him.

"I'll make him pay, I have to get rid of the danger since Harry isn't hear," He hissed under his breath drawing the attention of other students as they passed by him when they got themselves out of the trap.

Once he finally was able to get himself out, he realized that the teachers were already starting to make work of the gum like watery substance that seemed to cling to everything with an intensity that it was hard to distinguish if the blasted stuff would come off any time soon. Ron felt like letting out a frustrated yell, but he didn't as he let his teeth grinned, together instead. He stormed off towards the direction he'd seen Evan vanish towards. He walked at a fast pace looking for him everywhere before he came upon the ending scene of what looked like a fight between Gryffindors and Slytherins. Evan was smack dab in the middle of it all.

Ron felt his heart thump at the stare the boy gave Draco and not the Gryffindors, _'What a Hypocrite… he tells me to treat Slytherins better and yet he treats them badly.'_ Then he heard what the male said next.

"Draco," Evan turned to the blond Slytherin with narrowed eyes, "I expect not to hear that word come out of your mouth again. Draco gave him a confused look before Evan clarified, "She is a Muggleborn and a witch just like any other. It does not matter her blood-"

"But she is a mudblood!" Draco exclaimed.

Evan's eyes narrowed and hardened and the atmosphere around them seemed to plummet before feeling like the room had just slipped into an oven. Draco seemed unable to speak as he looked at those eyes that promised him possible pain. It seemed Evan was a very scary person when you pissed him off. Usually the Malfoy heir would retort negatively to anyone who spoke in disrespect to him. This Evan character seemed to have a huge hold over him and the other Slytherins. _'Just who the hell are you, Evan Spring?'_ Ron thought to himself

"Never say it again…got it?" Draco nodded as did the other two Slytherins' as if Evan's anger had been aimed at them as well.

Draco turned to the group quickly, "I'm sorry Granger it won't happen again."

Hermione blinked a few times clearly she didn't know what to say but answered none the less, "Umm okay."

Ron watched as Evan bid them all farewell with a pleasant smile on his face. Ron sneered at that smile as the male walked away from the stunned silent Gryffindor group with the dark minions. Ron made himself known before the Gryffindors. His face set in a frown as he approached them.

"What happened? Did that guy do something to you all?"

"N-no," Neville said softly.

"You don't have to lie to protect him Nev',"

"He's not Ronald," Hermione huffed at him.

"What are you gonna stick up for the snake too?" Ron growled.

"Yes… and do you know why?" Ron hesitated but didn't answer, "It's because he stood up for me and seems to be a real nice guy once you get to know him if you'd just give him a chance."

"You have to be kidding me right? Did you forget what he did to my arm? He's not human!"

"Ron you know you started those fights and he reacted in kind to them. If you had just left him alone he wouldn't have attacked you back during those confrontations. As for him being human or not, he seems pretty human to me, and your vampire theory is worthless. Many people who have come in contact with him say he's warm. Vampires aren't warm Ron, and you know that," Hermione hissed.

"It seems the Nargles and the Wrackspurts are at it again," Luna hummed, but it effectively quieted them all down.

"I'm done Ronald, I'm not taking your side in this any longer," She said dismissively to Ron.

He watched her go with wide eyes filled with shock. He had been so sure she would be with him on this and if Harry was here he would think the other would be too. Why was everything falling apart? He didn't understand what people saw in the guy. He was pure evil and he was going to prove it one way or another. He growled as everyone, but Seamus left him standing there.

"For what it's worth Ron I don't disagree with you. There isn't something right about that guy," Ron smiled at him, _'At least I have one person on my side.'_

He mentally smirked at his thought and started to think of how to confront him next time. Evan had taken everything from him he considered important, and now Hermione had gone to him. He was going to seek revenge on Evan if it was the last thing he did.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Harry walked through the corridors to the great hall, with the other three Slytherins behind him each one of them silent. The came upon the doors to the great hall and he opened up the doors. Eyes turned to them and people became silent, causing Evan to pause in his stride before ducking his head and walking to an empty place make by Pansy and Theo. Blaise wasn't in sight and he knew the Italian would be along soon. The Slytherins situated themselves around Harry before sitting to eat. He turned to Theo and gave him a questioning stare that asked him why everyone was looking at him.

"They heard about the confrontation in the hall," He said seeing Draco stiffen, "They also are hearing another's words that cause people to doubt you not to mention the supposed proof the person has."

"Who?" Draco asked before Harry could.

"The Weasley boy… His sister is in on it too. Though, their only proof is the boys arm having been broken, and the inhuman way it had been done."

"It's normal for that kind of stuff to happen when you piss someone off," Pansy defended.

"But it isn't… Evan is too thin to cause that kind of damage…" He trailed off looking to Evan.

"You'd have me believe that these, rumor's to be true?"

"No I'm not… Weasley accused him of being a vampire or a Were-wolf," Theo defended, "And we all know that is absurd"

Evan looked to the head table where Dumbledore and a few other teachers kept glancing at him, "But it seems like others do believe it he mumbled."

Everyone around him glanced up at the table discretely and nodded before Pansy spoke up, "It will only be a matter of time before they confront you about it."

"Which they'll find something to accuse me of," He sighed and they looked at him questioningly.

He lifted his wand under the table and put a privacy charm around them in parseltongue softly, and not allowing the other Slytherins to hear him speak those words. He did it to make it strong enough that not even a normal spell could dispel it. He sighed before turning to them to assess their emotions. Draco was the most interested while the others looked worried and resigned.

"I'm not entirely human," Surprise lit their eyes but didn't show on their faces showing good control on their parts, "I was when I was fourteen. I was normal like you all, but something happened to change who I was. I am neither Were-wolf, Vampire, or Veela and for the longest time I still didn't know what I was until… I met someone who could tell me and he was the only one who could ever be able too. Look I'm not going to go into details here, after we all meet back in the common room I will reveal myself to you all." He said and they nodded before he pulled down the charm he was using.

Dinner went by slowly after that and all the while Harry started to get agitated with the stares heading his way from one professor in particular, Headmaster Dumbledore kept trying to make eye contact with him and when he did he felt that nudge on his mind and Harry growled under his breath. Draco looked at him and then glanced over to where the boy was looking and his eyes narrowed, before turning back to Harry.

"Don't worry Evan, we can always write to mother and Father to see what kind of advice they can give," He said to him softly.

"I'm… afraid… Draco that even if we told them there would be nothing they can do about it if Dumbledore wants to get his way."

The boy grimaced at Harry's words knowing them to be truth, "If only our lord were here." He whispered and a grin split Harry's face, because he knew something they didn't and Draco eyes his grin.

"Do you know something?" Pansy hissed to him.

"Maybe I-" He paused as his collar made an uncomfortable flare, and Harry unconsciously ran his fingers over the metal band around his throat.

He didn't show his discomfort on his face and instead settled for a thoughtful tone. He hesitantly glanced over at the head table. It seemed like it was time, and now not only did Snape know, but Dumbledore did as well when the man looked to the headmaster and nodded when his hand had jumped to his arm without notice by anyone but Dumbledore. Harry's eyes narrowed and thought now it couldn't hurt to tell those he'd gotten close to while he was with the Slytherins. His eyes zeroed in on Draco and gave him a smirk.

"Our Lord is closer at hand then you would tend to believe my brother," He said as not only Draco's eyes widened but the other Slytherins around him.

When they all finished their meal the Slytherins vacated the area and quickly made their way to the common room. Draco had beaten everyone there making sure they all lingered by hind in the man room. Once Harry was positioned and the common room door was closed Harry lifted his hand to his color and his glamour he used as Orion Black under his breath, no longer having to use wand glamours or the earing clasp, but just for appearances sake he left the ear piece on. It would seem too suspicious if he'd suddenly stopped wearing it.

Almost white blond hair turned to silky black locks the gently curled at the ends and framed his features. His pale blue eyes bled into the steel grey that was a given to be the black family eyes, as well as the sharp features that came along with it. Already pale skin turned even paler, but seemed to glow a bit with radiance. His hand dropped from his collar and took in those around him.

"You, all who have been with me since I first got here, know that I am related to Draco Malfoy. In a way I am, but my name isn't Evan Spring and in a way I was still adopted into his family. My name is Orion Black, maybe you have heard of me and maybe you haven't," Whispers broke out and Draco hissed at them to be quiet, "A wonderful thing has happened while all of you were unaware of it." His hand came up to his collar as his smirk turned into a wide grin, "Our lord had risen, and you will be hearing of this shortly after tonight. Your families will inform you about their marks reactions and at Yuletide we will be gathering," He smiled widely at the eyes looking at him in wonder and hope.

"How do you know?" An unknown Slytherin asked.

"You see this?" He tapped his collar and some people nodded, "It is of his design, you see he found out about me a while back when I had an unfortunate event happen and he sent Nagini out to find me," He saw people's eyes widen at the name of the familiar, "He'd been watching me through her while I lived at the Malfoy manner and recovered from an affliction I had at the time." He saw recognition on Draco's face. He knew his mother had told Draco everything that Harry wanted known and he could confirm it to the others that it fit with his explanation. "In time I came to meet him and participated in his full resurrection of my own free will. Though, before I did so he collared me giving me… privileges as he found a less harmful way for me to be marked," people looked at his skeptical, and Harry was glad he still had the ear clasp on and he whispered a glamour spell on his face to keep the eyes and tattoo hidden, "If you do not believe me then look hear."

He unclasped the collar with a whispered parseltongue since he was calm enough to take it off. He opened it to the side that had the dark mark on it and showed it to the room which gasped at the sight, of it, before he clasped it back snugly against his neck. He looked at the people around him watching some accept his explanation but others were still skeptical.

"This collar is also a restraint for me. As long as it exists I cannot tell a lie when wearing it," He grimaced, "I must admit I do not like that, but I do have a choice as to not answer questions as well. The other reason he chose this method is because mentally and physically my body would reject his mark." Eyes widened in astonishment at that, "The reason why will be revealed at Yuletide for that I am, sure." He tapped at his collar in thought, "As long as I am unconscious or angry, or any variation of those two states of mind and emotions, this collar will be impossible to remove. So emotions like agitation, annoyance, anger, frustration, and the like it will not allow it to be removed. Sleep, unconsciousness of any kind will make sure it will be irremovable as well, so as to keep me within our lord's reach and protection."

Now to drop the bomb shell on them, "This is a port key as well as a contract, and now none of you who knows, about this will be able to tell anyone else, unless they know about it as well. Our lord made it clear no one is to know about my existence in his group until he wants them to know about me." He smirked at bewildered faces that looked at him as though he'd lost his head, but then they all paled when they realized that he didn't seem to be lying.

"How can we trust you?" Another Slytherin asked.

"Take it with a leap of faith, whether you trust me now is up to you, but regardless your under contract now and you will find out later if I am wrong or not," He smirked before turning to Draco, "I want to speak with you alone Draco."

The boy nodded and told the other fourth years to stay put in the common room for now to give them privacy. Blaise, Pansy, Theo, Crabbe, and Goyle kept the other in line and made sure no one snuck by until they were told otherwise. Harry walked up the flight of stairs to the fourth years, dormitories, and locked the door behind them once they were in the room with a whispered parseltongue spell that didn't go unnoticed by the blond since the room was quiet and only they were there. When Harry turned around Draco's eyes were wide in fear thinking this could very well be the dark lord in front of him, but Harry only chuckled.

"Calm down Draco, I'm not the dark lord just someone who can speak the same language as he," He stated softly.

"That can't be true only our lord and-"

"Harry Potter? Yes I know…"

Draco looked at him puzzled before Harry whispered the parseltongue words to the collar to change the glamour, before he removed his own glamour spells he'd placed on himself as precaution, and unclasped the ear piece in a parseltongue spell. He removed his outer robe to reveal that the back of Harry's shirt was wide open, showing skin where tattoos layed before the came to life to show his other extensions. Wings unfurled and his tail thumped heavily against the floor. His ears pointed out away from his head and Steel grey eyes melted into Avada Kedavra green eyes. Eye he's seen so many times, but the face didn't look right anymore. On top of that the teen got taller as well and Draco found himself looking up at the other male. Gleaming scales glistened on his back and upper arms.

Harry stood there silently waiting for Draco's reaction, the boy seemed to be frozen and Harry started to fear the worst. That he had possibly lost Draco and that said boy would never forgive him for the deceit. It took a while but anger soon ran across his face before realization dawned on him and he paled. He looked down and away as he watched Draco through thick lashes so as to not look so intimidating. A wand was suddenly pointed at him and Harry didn't move.

"You're lying, this is all a lie. Your spying on us for Dumbledore and trying to drag out the truth from us," He hissed.

"Really? Do you believe that? Can't you see for yourself that I'm the very same person who has been with you throughout the last few months fighting with the very people I once called my friends? Do you think I would do all that if none of it was true," Harry looked down and away, hurt was in his eyes and he knew it, "I knew it was foolish to tell you even if Narcissa and Lucius accepted it… even if Tom…" he paused, "Voldemort… even when he found out he had seemed to accept it." His hand came up to his collar to run across it with a fond smile before it fell.

"I am the reason why Ron accused you all. He cornered me in an alley that day in Knockturn Allley, and at the time I had been emotionally compromised…" Draco was watching him as he listened as pieces of the puzzle that had been Evan, Orion,…..Harry clicked into place.

"You caused the house fire at your safe house," Wide grey eyes stared at him as his wand lowered when he nodded.

"I killed them Drac' and I watched as they life drain from my aunt's eyes. It wasn't my fault but… I still killed them," He looked at his blackened nails that were sharp like claws, "This inheritance killed them… so I ran." He stated softly, "I had wandered to Diagon alley hoping to find ways to hide what I was and I knew I had to do so fast. So I did…and they found me only for me to run again… I was always running… Lucius found me and saved me, and Narcissa helped… when they found out who I really was after an elaborate lie that couldn't have been traced… They still found out," He whispered.

"How?" Draco said speaking up for the first time since he'd started talking about his side of things.

"I was having nightmares, ones so vivid and real to me that I could run from… and they kept getting worse with my guilt for lying to your parents and the one night it just became too much for me. I woke restrained to the bed my Lucius and to Narcissa using rennervate to force me to wake up," He stated softly staring at the window his eyes glazed in the memory he'd immersed himself in, "Narcissa had found out first when comforting me. She'd bee stroking my bangs and I hadn't realized she'd stopped to run her fingers alone my scar," His fingers came up and brushed the scar hidden beneath bangs.

"So they forgave you?"

"Yes, but that's because they know about my past as well," Draco rolled his eyes thinking he already knew his past, but Harry pushed on and proved him wrong. "I wasn't raised in a loving family, and I'm not even sure what love is… I lived in a cupboard under the stairs until I was eleven, and even after that was always treated like a house elf and…" Harry was sure Draco saw his eyes go distant and his form started to tremble as Harry fought the memory that threatened to overtake him. Narcissa and Lucius had helped him to recover the best they could before sending him here to Hogwarts, but it showed that he hadn't fully recovered at all. Haunted eyes looked back at big grey eyes as the listened, "I was…nothing but a whore to him… and he… he used me like one."

"Y-your lying….that can't be true," Draco stammered and Harry's eyes hardened at his words.

"Lying I'll show you lying," He forces his scales, swings, and tail to recede before pulling his top clean off of his being. "This is what happened… what my MUGGLE family relatives did to me… and that man knew it was happening and never once help me…Dumbledore fucking knew," Harry said turning his back to the other and he heard Draco gasp.

Even with the ink of Harry's tattoos it still could never cover up the full extent of the wounds on his back that snaked around his torso to his front, but his back was the worst. Big bold letters stood out on his skin for the whole world to see and when Harry glance back he saw Draco's pale and Ill looking features. Harry's eyes softened and he put his shirt back on before putting his robs on over it. His eyes looking away from Draco as tears stung at his eyes.

"To them I was a no body… A Freak without a name, a whore without a family and love, and a beast that became a murderer, but even to this day I still feel that disgusting man on me. I feel sullied, used, dirty, and unworthy of anyone's affection," Harry gripped at his upper arms and he could feel Draco's eyes on him as he shiver at the feelings he described to him. "Draco… Who am I if I'm not Harry Potter…If I'm not Orion Black….if I'm… not Evan Spring? Am I just a demon? A… monster? Or am I Freak that belongs nowhere? I just don't know anymore."

Draco moved before Harry knew what was going on, "Stop! Just Stop! Harry… You're hurting yourself."

Harry looked down when sharp pain laced up his right arm. At some point his wand arm decided to just lay lifeless at his side before his other one decided to dig its claws into warm flesh, causing blood to slip down his arms and off the tips of his fingers as well as soaking into his robes. Harry's eyes closed and he took a deep breath a few times before opening them again, and prying his hand from his arm to let it heal. Draco immediately pulled the sleeve up to watch it heal before his very eyes.

"You see Draco, I'm not human… when I said I can't lie while wearing this I meant it," He confessed, "He made sure I could lie to him and thus I cannot lie to others, unless I take it off. Though, I never want too."

"Why?"

"Because he helped me Draco, the Dark Lord and your Parents….they all saved me and helped me when no one else would. I told people about my life and it only got me trouble… so I gave up and when this happened," He gestured to himself, "I knew it would get worse and I would die or be sent to Azkaban for taking a muggle's life. Since I killed three it would be three ten year life sentences for me. So I fled… Merlin I don't even know who friend or foe is anymore… I thought I once knew but I don't and its eating away at the sanity I have left," Draco pulled him into a hug. "I feel like a winter soul, so cold and lost inside and unable to find the warmth so many others seem to have. I ache for that warmth but can never reach it," He said softly

"Harry…no Orion now…. I can tell your mind has made up who you are. You're proud as a Black and Sirius would be proud of you. I know my mom is, since she talks about you none stop. Throw away the past Harry stop lingering on it… I know it's hard to do, but it will fade away with time if you let it," Harry nodded at his words.

They stood like that for a long time, not noticing Osiris was awake and curled up on Harry's pillow watching and listening silently next to and equally tentative Nagini. Little did Harry know, that the dark lord felt like a winter soul as well. Cold like a blizzards storm that cannot find the sun in its wake. But the two winter souls would begin a journey that would lead them to their sun.

* * *

_**Next Chapter**__- Tail Chasers_

_**Well everyone that is it for this chapter. Looking forward to your R&R's. See you all soon!**_


	9. Tail Chasers

**Hello lovely Readers**

**Feeling a bit better today and the headache, has dulled down a bit. I hope your day is goin well and you enjoy this new installment of A Shadowed Soul.**

**tdjs: Well I had a few reasons as to why Harry would allow Ron to hit him. Harry hasn't completely lost himself to his darker nature yet, and with most abused children they often take blows when they haven't snapped yet. Harry is both still very much a light wizard with the thought process of an abused child. He'll take blows until his other nature comes out and takes the challenge. So being struck the way he was, was a mix of restraint, past afflictions, and taking the attack because of guilt he has stored away inside him. He blames himself for something he believes he needs to be punished for, but these thoughts on the subject are coming from the light side of him. When, he turns completely dark is when these thoughts will vanish and he will have no qualms with them. **

**I'm having fun with Draco it's interesting to try and tweak him here and there to fit into the story a bit better. Considering his personality and the changes to it I had to make. I also had fun depicting the twins in this story both them and Luna seem to know something the others do not. I'm still trying to work on the twins and how they know something the others don't, but Luna's situation should be much simpler then the twins are. **

**I love it when people make suggestions of the story. I literally take them into consideration when constructing the story as it progresses. I do have an Idea how I want it to turn out, but enhancing it with idea from others may bring a bit more fun to the chapter ahead. I'm glad you like the story so far and are giving amazing support for it. Your one of a few who read this that is giving me plenty of feedback to read over and I thank you for that.**

**England Girl: Oh my I did not know that. Huh, I just learned something new today. I also understand about the info thing and I'm sorry about that, I was a little meh about it as well when I wrote it. Sometimes my own thoughts and feelings for the story seem to get in the way, but I guess it did well, since nothing negative came from the reviews on it. I think in a way I was making Harry more forceful on himself to be as open as he was. –shrugs- Anyways I thank you for the information it was very enlightening. **

**Mary Jane24: Ha ha, Sorry I don't mean to make you cry :3 **

**Stardust of Orion: I was debating on that, but in the end I had him spill as much as he wanted. I also decided that the Slytherins are mostly dark wizards and have parents that are of the dark lord's army. So in a way Voldemort did give him the go ahead, since they are loyal to the dark and their parent's support of the dark lord. Think of it as a loop hole. If none of them were Loyal to the dark lord then he wouldn't be able to tell them :3**

**That's it for now folks. I look forward to things you have to say about it. Enjoy!**

Things in the story you might want to know.

"Talking/ spells"

_'Thinking/ sound affects/ Memories'_

_**-Parseltongue-**_

**.:**Spells**:.**

**Chapter Nine**- _Tail Chasers_

* * *

Harry stood before the Malfoy manor silently with Lucius and Narcissa behind him. His mind was focused on the work he had to do before him, and as promised he was placing the Malfoy Manor's new wards in place. Harry had spent a few months coming up with the new ward spells he was to place on the manor after stripping out the old wards that once protected the mansion.

_**-Just-the-other-day-**_

"_Hey Orion?" Draco asked as they sat in the common room._

"_Yeah what's up Dray?"_

"_Didn't mother and father ask you to put up new wards to the house? Well since you applied to be a ward maker and all."_

"_Oh don't worry about that, a plan has already been set out for that."_

"_Like?"_

_Harry sighed and pulled something out of his small pouch that he always kept attached to his belt, "This is the plan."_

_Draco leaned over to look, "A time turner?"_

"_Yes, our lord decided that in order to keep Orion in the open to the public eye that I needed this in order to get out of Hogwarts during the days I need to get out and work on the wards people need for their homes," He sighed, "The only problem I had though was having enough time to work on signature wards of my own that no one would dare to produce for themselves."_

"_Oh?"_

"_I had problems creating my own wards. Most people stick to either light or dark wards for protection. Mine, on the other hand are a combination of both as well as a few that I created myself. At first I had the issue with them exploding so I've been working on them since then."_

"_Wait… how have you been able to perfect them while you're in school then?"_

_Harry smirked and bounced the time turner in the palm of his hand, "How else do you think? You remember the short periods of time I vanished on my own. It wasn't to just have a few minutes by myself. It was to also use the time turner to go back to the beginning of the day so I can work on my wards. Though, I have to admit it is tricky trying to find a place to switch out at when trying not to make contact with a later version of oneself."_

"_Wicked!"_

_Harry laughed, "Yeah."_

"_So where do you go to practice?"_

"_Back to Malfoy manner."_

"_But… how? Aren't there anti apparition wards around the school?"_

"_Of course, but when you know of other means to get out of school and past the wards then it is quite easy to do so."_

"_What?" Draco's eyes were wide in shock, "Wha-…How?"_

_Harry laughed at the young Malfoy heir's face, "My little secret Dray and in time you might see it, but for now I can't let anyone see it." His face grew serious, "Dumbledore knows Legilimens."_

"_What's that?"_

"_It's something that can help people to enter the minds of others. I only know of three people who can use it so far other than myself… Snape, Dumbledore, and our Lord…"_

_Draco looked at him pale faced, "No way," he squeaked._

"_Yeah," he sighed, "Though if I'm suspicious enough about it, Dumbledore may already know…" He smirked then, "Then again he doesn't know I am who I am yet…" His smirk that had appeared soon faded, "Unless he saw your memory of me… but if he knew wouldn't he confront me yet?" Shaking his head he ignored it for now. "Anyways just to be safe I won't show it yet okay?"_

"_Okay… Orion… if things go wrong, you can count on me to help you out okay?"_

_Harry gave a fond smile to Draco, "Okay Dray."_

_**-Meanwhile-**_

Harry looked back on the memory with a fondness that he never had before. Draco was really like a brother to him and it felt good to have a family bond with someone. He once thought he had that with the Weasleys', but now he wasn't so sure anymore. With the Malfoys' though everything felt easier like breathing and it was comforting knowing someone accepted him no matter what his past was like or who he was now.

Harry turned to Lucius and Narcissa, before casting a spell on them so they could see what he saw every day now, for the period of time that it would take to build the wards around the house. Once done he turned back around hand in hand as he lifted both his hands to start weaving the spells he needed together. He'd been happy when he created a spell to fit in between the spells that had been clashing and didn't hinder any of the wards properties, but enhanced them instead. Narcissa gasped as she watched spells come together. Hues of many colors such as gold, white, grey, blue, purple, and black were showing the complicated mix of wards that had been used and created by the boy before them who was expertly creating the wards to their home.

When, the wards finally came together in a large dome like bubble over their land, the shimmered till they settled on a filmy glass like look of a warm yellow-orange color. Harry smiled when it settled and held strong. He'd taken many tests to make sure that it would stay strong and hold without exploding. Lucius made a sound of appreciation and awe. Harry turned to look at him as both Narcissa and Lucius blinked when the aura sight fell away from their vision.

"That was fascinating Orion," Lucius said a small smirk on his lips, "So tell me what are the wards made up of and their purpose."

"Well the wards are an intricate weave of ward spells. The wards will lock onto those that will have access to the wards, such as you and Narcissa. If you want to add anyone else simply tapping into the wards and adding their magical signature will work enough for them to be able to access them," He said to bother him and Narcissa, "Anti-Apparition, and Anti-Threat wards are in place, they can be turned active or inactive whenever you please. You can chose where people can apparate as well designating that to be the immediate area one can go to only when apparating. The threat ward allows you to dispose of someone who your immediate family thinks of as a threat. It will port them away from your home about several miles. The ward will allow you to recognize magical signatures and know exactly where they are in the house. No one but those keyed into the wards will know this and feel it. It also has a destructive, feature as well, if and when things go bad and you're on the run and wish something's to stay out of the enemies hands, you can key in the items to the ward and when you activate it with your magic those items will be burned until they are useless."

Lucius gave an impressed look, "What about spells cast at the house?"

"They will be useless… Think of the wards as being something similar to Hogwarts wards, but not nearly as ancient. Not sure which would stand a better chance, but I have confidence in my work," He said smiling slightly.

Narcissa came up and hugged him, "Thank you Orion."

Harry hugged her back and sighed, "It's about time for me to head back."

Lucius gave a short chuckle, "It seems so, but fret not the holidays are coming up soon."

Harry smirked and nodded, "I look forward to it."

Harry followed them into the manor, his mind focused on upcoming events as he walked. He slipped into his room and used his time turner to allow him to move forward a little after his other self-had left Hogwarts. He could sense himself downstairs in the main room talking with Narcissa and Lucius, before, he himself apparated out of the room to go back to Hogwarts. He knew his other self would use the time turner to get back to the beginning of the day while he was there at Malfoy manor. It made it easier to coordinate the time and places he needed to avoid his other self. He sighed with relief as he stretched his sore muscles a bit. The day had been long and Harry knew at the rate he used the time turner he would turn fifteen before the year was over. It was funny that he would be turning fifteen before the wizarding world acknowledged that he was even of age. He found himself laughing softly out loud as he wandered down the tunnel that allowed him back into the school.

Voldemort had been silent and hadn't said much, though having Nagini relay things that were going on made him felt happy that the older male thought him important enough to let him know what was going on. He wondered if he watched him like he did before Harry knew he'd been doing so, since Nagini was sneaking on and off school grounds without being notice by anyone. From what little he did know was that he was planning something big that dealt with Azkaban and it would be taking place soon. He had already put into thought that it was to get back the death eaters that had been imprisoned for being Voldemort's followers. He was a little weary about that thought, but he decided he would get over it none the less.

Harry peaked out from behind the statue and looked around. Nodding to himself he let the statue slip back into place before continuing on his way to dinner. He was rather hungry now having spent the whole day keeping busy with school and his day at the Malfoy Manor. Humming he found himself turning a corner just at the same time Draco and Blaise were.

Draco smirked at him, "How did it go?"

"Great! Nothing drastic happened anyways," Harry chuckled.

"That's good to know."

"Yeah, I'm happy that I found the issue and got it smoothed out before use."

"I'm glad you did. Just shows how much of a genius you are."

"I'm not a genius… I just love what I do."

"Oh come on Evan you know you're smart why not accept a compliment when it's given?"

"Because I'm not used to it…"

"But you've had compliments in the past right?"

"No… those were words to things I never had control over. So I do not consider them as such," Harry said as his eyes landed on the floor before them as they walked.

Draco's face softened, "Well… I guess we'll just have to give you compliments more often then." He smirked as he poked Harry in the side.

Harry chuckled softly and tried to move away from the other, "Okay, okay I get it… I will try to be more open to compliments as well."

"Better, now come on we need to get to dinner before we run into the weasel."

Harry nodded as they made their way swiftly to the great hall. It surprised Harry that dinner went well without Ron making much of a fuss. It was strange, but it seemed as of late the other seemed resigned. Possibly even just a tad distant and Harry couldn't quite put his finger on what could have gotten to the other male to act in such a way. It was strange considering the last few days he'd been trying to corner or confront him whenever he got the chance, regardless if anyone was around or not. He glanced over at the other male every now and again, but there was no sign coming from the boy that he was hostile or not towards him.

Shaking his head lightly he looked to Draco who only seemed to shrug at him, when he to noted that the other was acting strangely. Shrugging it off, he wondered if the other had just gotten over whatever he was trying to prove to everyone, so he decided not to question it any further. Shrugging he returned to eating the last of his meal before he rose from his seat and left the room to go to the common room. Draco, Blaise, and Theo were currently the ones that Harry hung out with the most. It kind of, felt like he was back with Hermione and Ron, but not really. Theo was actually pretty smart and Harry was surprised he hadn't noticed. Draco reminded him a lot of Ron, but without the jealous monster. Not to mention that Draco was a lot more loyal than Ron had ever been for him.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Dumbledore found the new student very disconcerting. He obviously knew Legilimency and Occlumency, considering on numerous occasions he'd tried to access the boys mind. Even the impulse charm was not working against the boy since he forced himself to constantly look away from his eyes. He hadn't expected a child from an orphanage would be able to take on such magic. Then again he was home schooled after being adopted by the Malfoys' only now allowing the boy to go to school. The young Malfoy heir had been completely at ease about the announcement of him joining Hogwarts and really didn't think much on it.

He'd kept a close eye on the boy after the first incident with Ronald Weasley. It was odd that the boy could project electricity off of his skin and clothing as though it was a part of him yet not entirely so. There weren't many creatures out there that had that same ability either, and the very few he knew of had died off a long time ago. The boy had a kind side he had to admit that, and that kindness seemed to be untarnished, though he wasn't sure how long that would last. Most Slytherins changed their tune after a while in that house and if Voldemort hasn't gotten him yet he would eventually.

"Severus, have you heard anything yet?"

"No, the Dark Lord had yet to call on me. From what I can tell none of the others have been called either," Snape said with a drawling sneer.

"It is odd he has yet to contact you," Dumbledore said to him.

"It is not all that odd sire, considering it is not the first time he has gone so long without word to his inner circle let alone the rest of his death eaters."

"Your right… but I can't help wondering if he already has something up his sleeve."

"He always has something up his sleeve sir, he is that dark lord after all."

"That is true… Tell me do you know anything about that student named Evan Spring?"

"No, I do not. Though,, I do find it strange that I had not heard of him until he joined Hogwarts this year. I am reluctant to say that he seems more capable than most in my class," He sneered reluctantly.

"Indeed, I have gotten the same from other teachers as well. He is passing all his classes with flying colors."

Dumbledore didn't dismiss the fact that Snape had a look of impression before hiding it expertly once again. Evan Spring was a puzzle unto himself, considering the boy literally cropped up out of the middle of nowhere. His thoughts turned to Harry, the boy had been missing for literally four months and several days. No sign of the boy had showed up anywhere, and he was starting to think that he'd lost his weapon. On top of the puzzle of Evan and Harry, a new player had moved into the picture by the name Orion Black. He'd fought tooth and nail to find out more about the boy, but a lot of the information he needed was not in Britain.

The young man was a genius, and had been privy to being able to inspect the wards he was creating for people. He'd become quite a popular person and seemed to be well acquainted with the Malfoys', as well as the Greengrass and Zabini families. He'd heard from quite a few sources that the male lived with the Malfoys' and Narcissa and Lucius always spoke highly of him. The one time he'd met the boy he'd been impressed with his knowledge of magic. That one time however had been the same day he'd taken his owls at the ministry since he'd been home schooled till he was eighteen.

"Severus, have you found anything on Orion Black then?"

"Yes, seems he is the great, great, Grandson of Marius Black. A man who was born a squib and had been blasted off the family tree. The Blacks' had thought of him as their worst mistake. Seems they were mistaken to say the least. On top of him being a ward maker he has delved into a study over squibs and muggles. He has uncovered quite a few unknown truths and is expanding his search," Severus said as he watched the headmaster through heavy eyes, seemingly uninterested at the subject. Though, it didn't at all fool Albus as he sat at his desk, "He lost both of his parents however, his mother died when she gave birth to him and his father before he turned eleven. During his time alone he went from muggle family to muggle family until he met one family who adopted him overseas in Japan. From information gathered the family was a pure blood family. I can't get any information to see if this is true, but it seems concrete to me."

"Hmm... I wonder what his thoughts on muggles are," Dumbledore hummed.

"He doesn't hate them, but he doesn't like them either," Severus huffed obviously wanting to leave by now.

"Why is that?"

"It seems the last muggle home he was in before coming in contact with his pureblood family, had treated him rather horribly," Severus said grimacing.

"Where did this information come from?"

"From the Malfoys' since they are putting him up at their house until he can afford a place of his own," He sighed.

"Have you seen evidence of said abuse?"

"He doesn't show much in his emotions though he does seem to go extremely distant and withdrawn when certain things are mentioned. Upon your request I had visited a sight that was having one of his wards put in place… Other than the boy flinching away from male contact nothing more was showed."

"Hmm so it seems the one who had possibly abused him had been of the male gender then?"

"It is possible but not likely, when someone flinches like he did it was something deeper than a physical abuse," Severus grimaced.

"Do you mean…?"

"Yes, Orion Black had been sexually abused by someone of the male gender."

"I see… It will be more than likely that he will join Voldemort if he makes himself known once more."

"If he hasn't already that is."

"Yes, it is best to assume so at this point until we know more."

Snape nodded and watched the aging man silently and Dumbledore dismissed him after a few other questions he had. Once the potions master was gone he got up from his chair and walked over to Fawkes who was singing sweetly.

"Fawkes my dear friend, it seems as though shadows of the unknown are looming nearer each day and puzzling people are showing themselves. I only hope our dear young mister Potter makes it make safe to be ready to take on the unknown ahead of us," He said the Phoenix, which sang out a tune when his fingers touched its feathers. He turned back to his desk after a while of petting Fawkes only to sit at his desk once more.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Harry's eyes were shinning with mirth as he watched Draco trying to stuff his trunk full of the items he and the other Slytherins had strung out around the room. Draco only glared at Harry who sat upon his trunk, with items all neatly in place within it, having been ready to leave the night before. His pale blue eyes watching the Malfoy heir, as he sat upon the lid of the trunk to force it down. Harry laughed when the latch didn't click closed.

"Oh shut it Spring," Draco growled and Harry laughed even harder. "Come of it, how did you get yours closed?"

"Easy I took time the other day arranging it for the trip back home, you on the other hand, like everyone else decided to wait till the last possible moment to pack."

"Well help me then," Draco huffed and Harry relented.

When Draco got off his trunk Harry rearranged things to fit better then what they already had been. Once finished he gave Draco a smug grin when it latched close with little to no problem. Draco grumbled, but otherwise kept his mouth shut after that. Everyone quickly got their things together before allowing their things to be taken to the train by the house elves. Draco happily chatted, Harry's ear off about what the hols' would be like. Knowing Narcissa though, Harry knew the place would look extravagant and very well done. As they all started to leave the grounds they walked over to the carriages that the Thestrals' pulled. Harry walked up to the wagons and at first had to take a double take at what he was seeing. It was at that point Luna appeared next to him like she usually did when strange things happened.

"Beautiful isn't he Evan?"

"Uh, yeah… Were they always here?" He questioned puzzled.

"Of course they were, the only problem was that you couldn't see them before."

"Why is that?"

"They can only be seen by people who have seen death."

Harry paled and looked at Luna, "…You mean…"

"It's, okay Evan your secrets safe with me," Luna said softly to him, "The only reason I see them is because of my mum. I was nine when she died," Luna said dazedly.

"Come on Spring… we'll miss the train if you don't hurry up," Theo called out to him.

"We better get going," Harry said wearily, it was obvious to him Luna knew more then she let on and it quite literally scared him a bit, "Would you like to ride with us?"

"With you, Draco, Theo, and Blaise you mean?" In a stating fact kind of tone which, lead it to sounding more like a question before she answered him, "Sure, it seems the Nargles are playing nice today."

"Yes, the Nargles are quite today," Luna smiled at him and made her way over to the carriage and climbed in, as Harry soon followed her and sat down beside her.

The ride was eventful with Draco trying to understand the dirty blond haired girl sitting next to him. She spoke of many odd creatures not many had seen, like those that pulled the boats in the lake. At this point Blaise was arguing with her, alongside Theo as well. Though, upon hearing that Harry could see them they started asking questions. The creature was identified as a Hippocampus, which was a sea horse dating back to Greek Mythology and the god Poseidon. The tale behind the magic used to hide them for people was interesting, but left questions for Harry he was not comfortable with talking about.

Blaise and Theo bother tried to coax it out of him when they found out the only way to see them was when one lost their virginity. Draco hissed at them to stop and Harry looked at him grateful for him trying to stop them. He glanced over to Luna, whose dazed look didn't at all look repentant. He had to admit it was starting to scare him that Luna knew way more than he would like for her to know. Swallowing thickly he ignored the arguing between his friends that ensued after the topic, until Luna decided to comment on another creature they were familiar with. Harry only half listened, but otherwise stayed focused on something else that was bothering his mind.

Not once since his disappearance had there been anything remotely speaking of him in the new papers. Sure it had come to a shock to the wizarding world when he had been announced missing only a few days after he'd left his burning house on Private Drive. He realized pretty quickly after those days, that the wizarding world only acted as though they cared and they really hadn't in the least. Harry's eyes sightlessly wandered over the surrounding area as they pulled up to the train docking station. The billows of smoke rising from the smoke stack of that train. Its whistle sounding to let everyone know it was time to board it.

Slipping from the carriage Harry started to walked to the train followed closely by Draco, Blaise, Theo, and Luna. None of them noticed the eyes that had followed them the whole while. The train ride was eventful considering that Luna was part of the reason that it was like that. Surprising enough Hermione had showed up, mostly to speak with Harry about a class assignment she was struggling with for Runes class. Draco firmly bit his lip from saying anything to the fizzy haired girl that could possibly set Harry off on him. Though, it didn't stop him from teasing Neville since he'd accompanied her to make sure she'd be okay in a room full of Slytherins.

"So what's up with the Weasel," Draco asked Hermione, though he looked like he would rather eat dirt than to do so.

"I don't know what is up with him and I do not care."

Surprised Draco raised a brow, "Isn't he your friend?"

"I'm not sure anymore… I mean he is coming up with the most ridiculous things about Evan and for the longest time before Evan came here he was always going on about the Slytherin House… Though, it seemed to get worse after Evan showed up… It's almost as though he is obsessed or something and I just can't stand to be around him anymore."

"Doesn't your lot always forgive each other?"

"I guess, but… It seems like he's just not himself anymore. Harry's disappearance seems to be the reason he's acting this way, but I'm not sure. Maybe he's always acted this way and I just never realized it before."

Harry spoke up after that, "I would tend to believe that bloody git was always that way."

Hermione grimaced at those words, "Maybe…" It was obvious that she was unused to the cheerful Evan sounding so disdainful about another person.

The rest of the ride was spent with Draco gearing about Ron and Hermione defending him rather lamely, before Luna got them all back on Nargles and Wrackspurts. To which, Hermione kept insisting that they do not exist, as she also proclaimed that the other creatures Luna spoke of such as the Crumple-Horned Snorkack and the Heliopath that she insists is being used by Cornelius fudge as his army. Neville on the other hand seemed quite taken with Luna and wanted to know more about these creatures that Luna knew so much about.

Upon reaching King's Cross Station, Draco and Harry made their way over to Lucius and Narcissa. Narcissa gave them both a warm hug, as Harry gave a faint smirk before looking to Lucius, who called a house elf by the name Mimzy who took both Draco's and Harry's items to the house before they themselves left for home. That was what Harry called it now and Malfoy Manor was his home now. Harry was still looking for a place of his own yes, because he had to keep his pretenses of being Orion Black up. Pale blue eyes melted away at the sound of parseltongue being used to switch off his Evan Springe glamour.

Harry looked around at the already decorated halls as Narcissa started to talk animatedly about the holidays ahead of them. Harry was gently smiling alongside Draco who seemed just as excited as his mother. Lucius was smirking as he made his way to who knows where while Harry moved away from Draco and Narcissa who had gotten so caught up in their discussion they hadn't noticed Harry slipping off to the kitchen. Upon reaching that part of the house, some of the house elves stopped to stare wide eyed at him.

"What master be, need'n?" Mimzy asked him with wide eyes.

"I would like to use the kitchen for a while."

"May Mimzy be ask'n what young master be need'n with the kitchen sir?"

"I would like to make some holiday treats."

"We'z can do that young master, no need to be do'n such things."

"It's okay Mimzy I want to it helps me relax… Please can I?" He begged with a small pout.

Mimzy's eyes grew wide, "If master be want'n then master can."

"Okay, thanks Mimzy," He smiled brightly as Mimzy stood there frozen.

Harry knew the house elves weren't used to him, but they were getting there. They liked the kindness he showed to them and they often did just about anything for him when he asked. Mimzy soon moved on and got busy with other things she had to get done. Harry pulled out the items he needed and started to make the items he'd learned to make back in Private Drive, when he'd been forced to live with the Dursleys'. Brandy Snaps, Arctic Roll, Caramel Shortbread, and some cookies that his aunt Petunia had made him make one time. They had been Vernon's favorites considering the man ate them all the time like they were going out of style. The name of the cookie was Snickerdoodle and even though the name was funny, the one time he'd been able to have one he found he liked them too.

Harry tired not to think much on it as he made the items silently, he let some of the house elves help him when he was too busy making one to get the ones he'd made out of the oven or where ever he'd put them to be done. It was during his making of the Snickerdoodles, that something loud crashed within the manor making Harry jump enough to accidently dump a bunch of flour and dough on himself before losing his footing and falling to the floor. The ruckus seemed to grow as shouts were heard and they gradually got closer to where he was.

The door burst open and Harry blinked owlishly up at the person who'd just burst into the room. Wide green eyes looked up in shock and horror at the person he saw standing there looking at him, frozen in mid stride. Obviously having followed his nose to that area of the house, and pressed against his back facing away from him down the hall to the others who'd been following them, was another he hadn't planned on seeing that day. Grey eyes blinked slowly down at Harry as though he was trying to figure out something that should be obvious to him, yet seemed oddly off.

Harry could hear Lucius spitting something out along the lines of stupid dogs and chasing tails, but he ignored it when the other with the man before him looked over his shoulder to look at Harry. Harry watched as green eyes widened comically at where Harry sat on the floor, covered in flour and dough. They all just stood there for a long time, before Narcissa and Lucius got close enough to see what they could possibly be staring at without moving a frozen muscle. The silence broke when Draco caught sight of him, and laughter started to overtake everyone in the room.

Harry blinked owlishly for a while before he blushed under the flour, covering him, "I was making cookies."

The laughs got harder and Harry pouted, which only seemed to egg them on further. Harry was surprised that this actually happened. Considering Sirius and Remus seemed entirely unharmed showed that Narcissa and Lucius had held back because Harry cared about them, he felt grateful that they hadn't hurt either of the two men before him.

Sirius calmed down enough first soft throat huffs showing he was forcing down his mirth, "Harry?" He asked uncertain, though his scent told Sirius that he was right in his assumption. It was just a tad different now, which he was determined to know why.

"Hey, Sirius," Harry answered sheepishly with a slight nod.

Draco went over the Harry and helped him up, a grin still splitting the Malfoy heir's features as he did so, which Harry pouted at. Getting up slowly he dusted himself off before Mimzy decided to help out and cleaned him up with a snap of her fingers. The contents vanished and the mixing bowl was back on the table. Now at this point Harry was fidgeting under Sirius's gaze.

Remus spoke up then, "Pup what's going on?"

Harry sighed knowing there was no way to get out of this. "It's a long story… I would tell you it… If Lucius is okay with it," He looked to said man who was in the door way with Narcissa behind him, a fond and humorous smile still on her features.

Lucius looked to the two before sighing, "Yes, but first before that happens can we please clean up the foyer. Harry, your dogs' here seemed to find it in them to knock the door in… literally, before setting off something in the hall that was as slick as ice, across the floor."

Sirius had the notion to look sheepish at Harry who only laughed, "It seems the tail chasers have sought after my tail." Harry chuckled softly, "Come on then shall we, we have much to discuss."

Upon leaving the kitchen, Harry found himself walking into the hall that had the ice like substance on the floor boards. His eyes widened at the see through glassy ice substance, which felt more like slime then ice. Harry laughed when he realized just what it was. It seemed his godfather had gone out of his way to ask the twins for one of their latest jokes. He only recognized it because it was something they had used on a group of students in the halls of Hogwarts around Hollows eve. It had been amusing watching people trip over themselves trying to stay up right only to complain about the feel of it when their skin touched it.

It was at this point he picture his god father and Remus kicking in the door only to let loose this prank like spell on the people within as they came around the corner in surprise. Harry started to chuckle as he pictured Lucius landing face first upon losing his footing, just to grimace and comment on the slimy substance as it smear the side of his face slightly. Lucius glanced over to him and raised a brow at him and Harry raised his hand and waved it back and forth as he couldn't hold back his chuckles.

"Sorry, I just pictured what could have happened here and I can't get the picture out of my head," He laughed as Lucius's eyes widened a fraction, only serving to cause Harry's laughter to grow.

Once Harry settled down they got to work in cleaning up the mess, with Lucius grumbling about the whole situation still. Sirius made a few jibes at the blond, before Harry quickly put a stop to it. This however, got Sirius curious as to what could have taken place to change Harry's attitude about the Malfoys'. He soon got his answer however when Harry pulled both Sirius and Remus off into another room alone, so they could speak to one another and have some alone time together. Narcissa showed up every once in a while to offer drinks or something to eat, other than that they were alone.

Harry had found it infinitely harder to tell Sirius and Remus what had happened to him at the Dursleys' and what he'd done. Guilt was something that weighed heavily on Harry's heart and it had taken a long time for him to openly admit certain things from his life before then. Sirius took it all in silently, but judging by the look on the man's face he was furious whether it was at the Dursleys' of Harry himself, he didn't know which. He swallowed thickly, his eyes cast down on the floor, his whole being telling him to run, but he forced himself to stay. Narcissa had helped him in the past months to get him to talk about these things more openly with people he trusted and care about.

He definitely trusted and cared about Remus and Sirius, and knew they wouldn't tell anyone. Harry sat there for a long time in silence with them. The air thick with a tension that Harry wished would disappear sometime soon. He could feel both men's eyes on him and it took all his will power not to cower or flinch under the intense stares. Sirius eventually made a growl sound that did make Harry jump slightly, and the sound cut off just as quickly as it had begun.

"If they weren't dead already I would have killed them myself right about now," Sirius said letting another harsh sound to slip past his lips.

Harry looked up at him when his warm hand touched his lightly, "Thanks, Sirius."

"I would do anything to protect you pup… Which, brings me to the next subject," He said softly, "will you come with us?"

Harry stared wide eyed at Sirius before looking away, "I can't."

"What? Why not?"

"I have to… Siri' you can't expect me to run off with you. Your still on the run, and I've made a place for me here with the Malfoys'. They helped me when I had no one to turn too, they gave me a place to stay when I was too afraid to trust anyone."

"But-…"

"No… I can't I'm sorry, but I can't besides… I plan on getting my own place still. I don't want to burden anyone with my presence."

"Harry you're not a burden on anyone, and as much as I would hate to admit it I think the Malfoys' think the same thing."

Harry sighed and looked down and away before firm calloused fingers lifted his chin to look into grey eyes, "If it makes you happy I will not sway you from the path you seem determined to stay on. I will support you no matter your decisions, and I will try and visit as often as I can."

Harry gave a half smile, "All I wish is for your and Professor Lupin to be safe."

"Call me Moony or Remus Harry," Remus said from beside the man, having finally spoken after everything that had happened.

"Or call him Remy he likes the nickname," Sirius said chuckling.

Harry laughed softly before Remus spoke up again, "So Harry what is this form you spoke of.

Harry quieted and gnawed away at his lower lip, trying to gain back his courage that suddenly seemed to vanish at the thought of showing him that new form of himself. Sighing Harry stood up from the chair he sat on, before releasing the clasp on his ear, and the glamour that covered his tattoo. His tattoos on his back furled out as wings slowly appeared as well as scales and a tail. Once finished he stood before the two men in silence, both looking at him wide eyed.

"What did you say this form was again?"

"It's Dragonian… er… roughly translated that way anyways. Some would say Drake or Draken. It's among the lines of me having dragon blood or something of the like. Though, from the passages it's more of a magical bond of some kind," Sirius seemed to nod taking the explanation at face value.

Remus spoke up, "Do you trust him?

"Huh?" Harry was puzzled.

"The dark lord… do you trust him?"

Harry thought seriously for a moment, "Yeah I do."

Sirius looked to Remus and he sighed before looking back at Harry, "Okay then… we just have this to say. If anything goes wrong, and I mean anything, please don't hesitate to come find us okay?"

"Alright," Harry gave them a fond smile.

They spoke a while longer before they decided they had overstayed their welcome, and hugged Harry before leaving. Once gone Harry sat back down mentally and emotionally exhausted now that the day was drawing to a close. It had been an eventful day, and one he wouldn't change for anything in the world. He had Remus and Sirius back in his life and knew what was going on. He felt the weight that he'd had for a long time building on his heart suddenly lessen. Smiling he stood up once more and made his way to his room. A funny thought leaving his mind as he thought of a new way to address Remus and Sirius in his letters from now on. He would address the pair as his _'Tail Chasers',_ laughing slightly at that he got ready for the night. The following days he had a feeling he would need the energy for. Sleep found him swiftly after taking the dreamless sleep draught before slipping into bed, already feeling the effects come upon him swiftly. Then the whole world went dark and Harry slipped into a land of pure darkness and without dreams.

* * *

_**Next Chapter**__- Boiling Brew_

_**Well everyone that is it for this chapter. Looking forward to your R&R's. See you all soon!**_


	10. Boiling Brew

**Hello lovely Readers**

**x.x Here is another installment of A Shadowed Life **

**Titania of Swords: Thank you :3 I'm glad you are enjoying it.**

**DTDY: XD ha-ha thanks, I was trying to make it as amusing as possible for people, though I think my brain died somewhere along making that chapter.**

**To everyone else: I'm so happy you guys are enjoying this fanfiction. It brings a smile to my face to see you all like it so much.**

**That's it for now folks. I look forward to things you have to say about it. Enjoy!**

Things in the story you might want to know.

"Talking/ spells"

_'Thinking/ sound affects/ Memories'_

_**-Parseltongue-**_

**.:**Spells**:.**

**Chapter Ten**- _Boiling Brew_

The following day Harry woke to the stillness of the mansion, his eyes lazily starring blearily his eyes trying to focus as he sat up, only to realize the sun was just starting to peak over the horizon. Surprised that he awoke so early he wondered what had caused him to waken like he did. He hadn't awoken that early before since being at the Dursleys' house. It was during his light mental musings that he realized a magical pressure he hadn't noticed upon first waking up. His head snapped up and over to the wall that was between his bed and the door.

Standing there was none other than Voldemort. Startled he was suddenly brought back to the time he'd woken to Nagini staring at him as he slept. Unbidden Harry started to blush before ducking his head. Long strands of dark obsidian obscured his features from view, and Harry could hear the older male chuckle before moving from the wall to the edge of his bed. He felt the edge dip and long firm, yet gentle fingers touch stroke alone the side of his face, before curling under his chin to lift Harry's face from its downturned position. Forcing, Harry, to look up from the position to keep him from hiding the blush that dusted his cheeks.

"Why, the blush Harry?" Voldemort teased him softly.

"Because you were watching me sleep, and it reminded me of what Nagini often did," He said softly.

Amusement danced in Voldemort's eyes, "Ah, but she usually does not do so unless I request it of her. You have such an angelic face when you sleep and it is quite soothing to watch."

Those words made the blush intensify along Harry's features and he found himself unable to pull away from the hand that held him in place. Instead he took to closing his eyes, which had Voldemort laughing lightly at his embarrassed, little dragon. He felt the older man's thumb stroke along his jaw before it ghosted over Harry's lips causing him to shiver slightly at the touch. Vivid green eyes opened to look up into crimson blood colored eyes. A thoughtful look had over taken the darks lord's features as he looked down into Harry's eyes. Harry's thoughts wandered a bit as the pad of the dark lord's thumb ghosted lightly over his lower lip.

He wondered what it would be like to kiss the dark lord. To have the man dominate him, in every way and he found his dragon side shivering with arousal at the thought of it all. It had startled him that he felt that way about the man who, had by all accounts, had been trying to kill him most of his life. Yet, he could not seem to fault the man in the least. He had no anger, no emotions that even pointed to the fact that he should hate him. Instead there was a light flutter within his chest as he looked at the man before him.

Unconsciously Harry started to lean into the man's touch, wanting to be closer to the one who seemed to care about him like no other. Voldemort chuckled, slightly snapping Harry out of his thoughts, Avada Kedavra eyes widened and he pulled away from the touch, before his eyes narrowed at the dark lord. A darker blush running over his features at his own thoughts about came back down from where they'd been. He had to admit that he felt embarrassed, that his thoughts had gone that way about the older male.

"I wonder what is running through that pretty little head of yours to cause such a reaction," He mused.

"I-it's nothing," Harry mumbled.

"Indeed, if you say so," He smirked at Harry as he watched him struggle to look him in the eyes again.

The older male rose once more and left without another word. For a moment there when the other male had been holding his face the way he was, he'd thought he would kiss him. He shook his head at the thought completely disregarding it. _'Who would want a scrawny freak like me anyways…'_Harry's thoughts turned against him. They seemed to be doing that quite a lot as of late, and he couldn't help but feel dejected a bit by the.

He berated himself for even think anyone could be interested in him, because he was used and damaged goods. Harry pinched his eyes closed and cursed the Dursleys' for ruining him, and taking any chance he had of finding love from him. He curse Dumbledore for allowing everything to happen, and he cursed the one who made the, prophesy about him. Pained eyes blinked open as he slid off the bed to get dressed for the day. The time alone gave him the time he needed to create a mask to hide his pain.

He'd gotten used to doing this, hiding his pain was something he was taking on quite naturally since he didn't want the Malfoys' to worry needlessly over him. They did enough of that after the revealed his past to them. Taking a deep breath Harry left the confines of his room to walk down the hall to where all the magical signatures were. Having been the one who created the wards to the house, they would always obey him. Regardless on if the head of the house didn't key him in or not. In truth the magic had been made by him and would always accept him.

He smirked in thought over the many place he'd placed wards at, after the first of December had gone past. He frowned a bit though when he realized Snape had also been at one of those meetings. He'd forced himself to converse with the man, not trusting him in the least. The dark haired professor was nosey as well, trying to wring information out of him. Lucky for him he was interrupted so he could work on the ward. Though, it was unlucky for him that Lucius had showed up with Narcissa who didn't pass up the chance to speak with Snape about him.

Neither Malfoys' knew of the decision to leave out the professor till the last possible moment. Sighing Harry walked into the room under his Orion Black guise since currently the greasy git was there. On the same day the dark lord was visiting no less, but it wasn't just him there considering there were quite a few others as well. He inclined his head towards Mr. Nott, a man he'd done the wards for only a couple days ago. Among the others that were there he recognized the Unspeakable named Augustus Rookwood. He saw the man often when he was at the ministry registering the updated wards into the filing system.

The others he did not know, but he assumed this was his entire inner circle, plus some of the other tiers that Voldemort wanted present. Voldemort was standing while the rest where kneeling at the man's feet. Before Harry could do the same Voldemort reached his hand out and beckoned him forwards. Hesitantly he did so, though as he walked by one man, he glared up at Harry who lifted his chin a bit in defiance. His dragon side taking an affront to the fact the other man was glaring at him. Voldemort took Harry's hand and tugged him to his side, before placing his fingers at the collar and whispering something in parseltongue that had Harry shivering from the man's use of the language.

**-Reveal and Bind-** where the hissed words that escaped the man.

Though, he knew that in short he was activating a spell in the collar. As to what it was he didn't know, until he heard a gasp and by then it was already too late to pull away. Voldemort had just keyed in those present to his hidden little secret. That morning he hadn't attempted to put precautionary glamours up, let alone hide away his dragon heritage like he usually did. He had just relied on the collar glamours he had. Obviously Voldemort had expected him to do so because now he was looking at the shocked features of not only the death eaters, but Severus Snape as well. One man having been so shocked he'd whipped out his wand and pointed it at Harry.

Harry bristled as the dark lord's gaze narrowed dangerously, "Avery lower, your wand immediately."

Said man looked up wide eyed at his lord before looking down and away quickly, "Yes my lord."

It was strange to Harry but, he hadn't expected this change in tactics. The again his collar literally held a binding contract on it. No one present would be able to spill the information they now received and none of them even knew they couldn't. The parseltongue made the contract more binding to those present. Even if they found the loop hole Harry had found, they would still be unable to exploit it. Mostly because, the dark lord, had used the parseltongue password attached to the collar, to reveal his self and bind them to a contract that was spelled to his collar.

Harry had simply revealed himself to those loyal to the dark lord. He had said to Harry later that those whom were loyal to him were only allowed to know and the Collar would keep him from telling anyone who wasn't loyal to him. The man should have been more specific about that, considering he'd told all of Slytherin house what he knew about Voldemort's return to power. A smirk lit his features, but it vanished just as quickly under the scrutiny of Avery's eyes from beneath blonde locks.

Harry didn't like the look he was getting and his eyes narrowed at the man still kneeling on the ground before Voldemort's feet. A growl escaped him and his wings flexed behind him, no longer hidden by glamours from those before him. His tail raised slightly in agitation. The unusually long appendage no longer touching the ground limply like it usually did and an electric pulse flitted across Harry's hands as he stood there. Voldemort glanced over at Harry wondering what had gotten the boy worked up until his eyes landed on Avery.

"Is there something wrong Avery?'

The man grimaced and his eyes glanced down at Harry's hands noting the electricity dancing between his fingertips, "my lord how can, we trust him?'

"You doubt my judgment?"

"No, my lord… "

"It doesn't seem that you do Avery," The man stiffened, "Young Harry here has joined us of his own accord. He is not here to spy or waylay information back to the old fool Dumbledore. He is the reason I am back amongst all of you," At that Avery's and the other Death Eater's heads snapped up to look at Harry who obviously didn't like the attention and stepped closer to their lord. "He is a valuable ally and I wish you all to treat him with respect. He has given more than any of you dared to give, for none of you searched for me in the thirteen years of my absence."

"My lord if I had known you'd survived I would have come for you, but I thought you had fallen, my-…" Avery's words cut off when Voldemort spoke a spell loud enough for all to hear, **.:**Crucio**:.**

Pained screams echoed of the walls of the living area. Everyone had frozen and it was then that the heavy feeling Harry had felt in the air growing around him, was the anticipation of everyone who knew punishments were about to take place. Harry couldn't help but to watch in fascination as the man writhed and twitched in pain on the floor. Not having seen the Cruciatus curse at work before until that day, though what caught his attention was the dark smile that was spread over the dark lord's face as he took pleasure in hurting the man before him.

Harry shivered and it did not go unnoticed by Voldemort since Harry was close enough that he could practically feel the boy's magic tremble as he did so. Harry's eyes landed back on the man screaming in pain, and couldn't help but feel a dark smile spreading on his own features. He rather enjoyed the feeling of Voldemort's magic washing over him as another writhed in pain under the man's dark power. Harry hadn't heard the sound he'd made, but Voldemort had and he released Avery from the curse with a dark chuckle.

When the magic in the air let up Harry felt his head swim and he swayed unsteadily on his feet. Feeling a bit drunk of the man's powerful dark magic and he was completely helpless to it. Harry had gotten used to other wizards and their magic over the course of the past few months, but wizards like Voldemort, and Dumbledore was a whole different story. He always felt light headed and dizzy almost as though his senses were being over loaded. He'd gotten a tad used to it though since he was going to Hogwarts and the headmaster was always nearby. Though, it wasn't enough considering he felt fuzzy headed standing so close to one person who produced enough energy to make his dragon side react in a soft sound of submission.

Voldemort was a powerful wizard and Harry's dragon part of him recognized such a wizard as being a potential mate. Dragon's often fought for a mate, the submissive ones taking those that showed their power and dominance to have a right to be their mate. Once mated, they were mated for life, and the dragons fought fiercely for each other when one or the other was in danger. Harry once again shoved that notion away not thinking he had the slightest chance to be that close to the powerful dark lord.

Harry paused, his thoughts when he felt long fingers curl around the base of Harry's neck, "Young mister Potter is to be respected Avery and he is above even you in rank."

This said a lot considering that Avery was part of the inner circle as well as most of the others that were there. The only ones who showed they accepted this was Lucius and Narcissa, who smiled at Harry in reassurance. Harry smiled back, but soon shivered as those long fingers on the back of his neck caressed the base of his nape gently. It was associated with more of a petting gesture as one would do to a pet, but at the same time it felt a little different. He couldn't pace why this was so, but he didn't care either way for it felt nice to him. Harry's body relaxed on its own accord, his tail thumping lazily back to the floor again as he stood there, his wings relaxing a bit and hostility vanished from him.

Voldemort smirked at this, but it vanished quickly to be replaced with a sneer, "I have brought you all here for a reason. Starting today Lucius I expect you to keep your house open to this particular group to stay in your house. On the day of Christmas Eve we will be launching an attack on Azkaban, and bring back those loyal to me from that dark prison."

Harry listened to the words silently, relaxed and at ease. Having not been bothered by what the older man had said. He could careless at the fact more death eaters were being freed. Sure some of them have even tortured his friend's families at one point or another, but he couldn't bring himself to care enough about it. Something in Harry just felt indifferent about all of that, and he just couldn't bring himself to hate or dislike it.

Severus spoke up next, "Will he be joining us on this raid my lord?"

"Yes, he will be the one leading one of two parties into the prison," The dark lord smirked, as he tapped Harry's collar lightly.

"I will?" Harry asked slight confusion on his face.

"Yes, my little dragon you will be joining us."

"What about the rest of the group, my lord?" Lucius asked.

"The will be called upon the day we strike, as you know I gave the first warning several weeks ago and one again before the students at Hogwarts had let out," He smirked, "I will now send one every day giving them time to know that I will call upon them soon and to make arrangements that suite the time I need them."

After that the rest of the plan was laid out. Harry's group, which would consist of Lucius, Rookwood, Nott, Avery, and a hand full of other people from other tiers, would be storming the prison to search for death eaters and potential death eaters. Voldemort's group would hold off Aurors to buy time for Harry's group to find everyone. Once everything was set in stone, so to speak, Voldemort let Harry and a few others leave to find a room to stay in. Before Harry could leave the dark lords side however he had his arm snatched.

"You will be staying in my room with me Harry. The Malfoys' need your current lodgings for the others," Harry looked up at Voldemort with wide eyes before nodding.

"Okay, I will remember that before going to bed tonight so I do not accidently go to a room occupied by one of your followers," It was amazing to Harry how easy it was to talk to the other male, though the looks he got from some told him they didn't like his casual tone to their dark lord.

He chuckled, "See that you do just that. Now, go have some time to yourself, Lucius told me you've been hard at work. My little dragon needs a rest and I do not intend to have you sick before the raid has even begun."

"As you wish my lord," Harry said in a teasing tone to soft for the others to hear, obviously showing that he wasn't planning on following those orders.

"Little dragon… be careful," He warned.

"Now how would I be if I was careful and made things easy for our dear dark lord?"

Voldemort's smirk turned into a dark smile of impish delight, "It seems my little dragon, needs a lesson."

Harry snorted and his own smirk flitted across his features, "Says the dark lord who likes dishing out punishments more than lessons."

Voldemort let him go and Harry chuckled, before leaving the room. He spoke briefly to Narcissa outside the lounge telling her he would be outside practicing his new spells he'd created over the past few weeks. Even when during the holidays he often used his time turner to get what he needed done. Giving both Evan and Orion a show in the world, so as to not have people thinking he was the same person for both people. It was during a mock duel against an animated dummy, that Snape came outside to watch him practice.

Harry paused what he was doing and looked over to Snape, his green eyes shining as he looked at the man, "Why?"

"Huh?" was the only thing Harry could unintelligibly say to the man.

"Why did you turn dark?"

Harry's face drained of color and he looked away, "You wouldn't understand."

"I wouldn't under-… Harry is this any way to honor your mother's sacrifice?"

Harry flinched and took a step back away from Snape as he advanced on him, "don't" The words were spoken so soft that he was sure Snape didn't hear, but he did and Snape stopped a few paces away from him.

"Don't what? Tell the truth? Show you what you are doing is wrong? Harry what were you thinking?"

Harry felt like a cornered rat and he was on the verge of hyperventilating, his eyes were wide and his breathing was coming in short gasps. Harry took another step back, but Snape's hand lased out and apprehended him before he could more away any further. Panic started to slowly swell in his chest, his dragon stirring and wanting to protect itself from the threat. Even if the threat was an internal one Harry wanted to escape. Snape's hand stayed firm on his arm no matter how much Harry was trying to pry the hand off. Unlike with Ron, Snape was a full grown adult and Harry was still a young developing dragon. He was strong yes, but he wouldn't be nearly as strong as he would be when he was a full adult. He swallowed thickly as he tried to pry the hand off him fruitlessly.

"Harry answer the question," Snape ordered him, using the boy's first name to know he was serious about the situation at hand.

"…Because, I had no place, to go too!" He shouted at the man, as he gave up trying to pry himself away from the man, "I had no place to go Professor… I was alone and no one ever believed anything I said… I was hurt, and scared…" Harry's eyes blurred and his body started to shake, "You don't know what they did…"

Snape was pale as he remembered his own observations of the one named Orion and looked back at Harry with dawning Horror, yet he still didn't let the boy go. He was afraid that if he did Harry would bolt and something bad might happen. Considering the way Avery was treated by just looking at the boy the wrong way showed that Harry meant a great deal to their lord. He really didn't want the man's ire turned on him if anything were to happen to the dragon boy.

"They always hurt me…" Harry's anger soon shifted and Snape felt the instant change, "Dumbledore knew… he always knew… and yet he let them keep doing it. He kept forcing me into their home and he kept forcing me to confront the dark lord every year. How can I hate Voldemort when Dumbledore has done just as bad if not worse?" Narrowed eyes looked up at Snape a slight craze to them he hadn't seen before, "I will never be used by that man again. At least with the dark lord know he is using me, unlike that manipulative, lying, and deceitful old man."

Snape's hand let go of the boy, all prior inner conflict had faded in a manner of moments, "what do you plan to do?"

"What do I plan to do? I'll tell you what I plan to do… I plan to create shadows in places that should have been covered in darkness a long time ago," There was no smile, no smirk, or mirth in Harry's eyes.

Just a serious and cold exterior that had been slowly developing over time, his own mental anguish and past events having caused the other wise, timid and shy boy to become a cold blood creature that his inheritance claimed him to be. All Snape could do was watch helplessly as Harry turned back to the dummy and it exploded with a, none verbal spell, leaving nothing in its wake. Harry walked past the man and slipped back into the manor. Leaving the dark Slytherin to his thoughts before Draco came out to announce to him that dinner was ready.

That night Harry layed in the same bed as the dark lord, nothing happened, but Harry felt comforted by the man's presence as he simply held him close. In those arms he felt whole and safe, like he belonged somewhere and he was happy that out of anyone he could have shared a bed with he'd chosen Harry out of any of them. Harry swiftly found sleep for the first night without using a potion to do so.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

A few days later Harry found himself waking to long fingers coming through his hair lazily. He didn't want to wake, but a part of him was telling him he had to and an excitement seemed to linger in the air around him. Christmas Eve would be there upon them in an hour, and everyone had been ordered to rest before the main event of the day took place. Harry for the past few days had been training for the upcoming raid, and had Voldemort as his mentor during those training sessions away from prying eyes.

"It is time to wake my little dragon," Voldemort said with a chuckle as Harry groaned sleepily.

"I dun wanna Tom…" He mumbled sleepily.

Harry laughed softly and got up, before yanking the covers out from under him making Harry slip off the other side of the bed with a yelp. Harry sat up and peeked over the bed at the dark lord with a pouting glare. Harry was the only one it seemed who could call the dark lord by his real name, anyone else who spoke to him it was always _'My Lord'_ or _'Lord Voldemort'_.

"There now that you're up, come we must get ready," He said as he strode to the walk in wardrobe, "Also I have left your attire on the table in the corner," Voldemort called from within the wardrobe.

Osiris slithered into the room at that moment followed by Nagini. It seemed as of late that neither of the two familiars strayed far from each other, but upon certain occasions they returned to their owners to do their bidding. Both slid up onto the bed slowly where Harry had been laying down only moments ago, the sheets still warm to the touch and relaxing both snakes as they curled in on themselves. Osiris's black tongue flicked out to taste the air silently.

**-Seems there is excitement in the air-**

**-Yes Osiris, Tom and the rest of his resistance are going out on a raid today. I am privy to be able to come along-** Harry said to the tiger snake.

**-He is not just allowed to come… Osiris, he will also be a key leading point in the raid-** Voldemort said as he came out of the wardrobe. Long billowing robes in place, as well as a mask that was colored a blood red wine.

**-Oh young master plays important role. Master must do his best and conquer all in his path-** Osiris hissed as Voldemort gave a small chuckled and nodded.

Harry huffed before turning to the items Voldemort had set out for him. They were simple robes, but looked as though they were crafted more along the lines of dueling. This would make fighting others easier to do now. Harry smirked and slipped into the robes, and was about to turn back to his lord when something caught his eye. On the table he noticed something hard and black, blinking a few times, gentle fingers brushed across the item as he took note of the of the slightly uneven surface. Only for him to realize it was a mask made to look like that of scales. The obsidian color shinning slightly like his obsidian dragon scales did.

Big green eyes looked over to Voldemort and the man simply stood there watching him with an amused smile on his lips. Harry broke out in a wide grin, before he looked at the mask again. The mask was a half mask like the Death Eaters, but not quite the same. Along with the mask was a cloth that wrapped around the lower half of his face to hide it from view. Harry put on the mask and turned to Voldemort before the man ushered him out of the room and to the living room.

Everyone was waiting and Voldemort took Harry's arm and apparated out of the room. Harry soon found himself standing yards away from Azkaban, before resounding pops filled the air. Those whom had been at the Malfoy manor and those who had found a way to be there today, and Harry felt the urge to leap into battle sing through his veins like a wrought hot iron bar.

"My friends, we have gathered here to set free those who have loyal stayed by my name and have been locked away here. I will send a group in when the wards have been ripped away, and the rest of you will stay here with me to drive off the Aurors," excitement filled the air as these words left the man's mouth. "Orion, take your appointed group and go," He said to Harry who answered with a _'Yes, my lord… as you command'_ and he left with his group to the edge of the ward field. They would wait till the wards fell, and Harry would know when that happens. Personally he'd wanted to destroy the wards, but Voldemort had insisted that he do it, to keep people not of their cause, from thinking Orion Black was among the death eaters raid tonight.

Harry could hear the hisses of parseltongue as it left the man, and Harry watched as the wards to Azkaban groaned and buckled under the pressure. Harry's eyes narrowed on the Aurors guarding the entrance to the prison. They'd taken notice and it would not be long before re-enforcements would arrive. The men on the other side of the wards looked panicked at the rather large army at the edge of the wards. Harry himself had been surprised at the turn out of people there. Sixty of the original group had showed up for this raid, and the air thrummed with magic that was making Harry feel, high as a kite.

The sound of the ward tearing drew Harry's attention and a rather large rumble of the earth beneath their feet signaled that the wards were down and no longer able to be supportive in their quest. Harry and his group moved forward, taking on the Aurors that were there. The first obviously a veteran to this ordeal, yet fell quickly to Harry's and Lucius's wands. The other was a rookie, possibly having been sent there for botching a mission. He fell just as swiftly if not more so.

Once finished disposing the threats a couple of people from their group cast a Lumos. The dark walls of the prison seemed to be slick as though it was coated in slime. The smell of death and madness leaked into the air around Harry and he scrunched up his nose. The smell of body Oder was thick in the air, sweat and who knew what else permeated the air around them thickly. As they moved down the corridors they came upon a few potential death eaters, and had yet to find the ones who were loyal to their lord. It was upon the third level that they finally ran into the dementors. Quickly thinking up a plan Harry looked back on the spell Remus had taught him.

Wordlessly harry cast, **.:**Expecto Patronum**:.**

Out of the end of his wand a white light erupted from his wand, almost like white dancing flames as a serpentine like dragon appeared before them. Pushing the dementors back with the light magic used to conger it. Harry was surprised that his stag was no longer there before him. Was it possible his blood heritance did this? Harry didn't know, but otherwise ignored it. He noted Avery's impressed look at his spell, but otherwise stayed impassive. An insane cackle drew his attention however and someone was shouting in glee. The laughs and raspy sound causing a few men among Harry's group shiver at it.

"He's here… He's here… He has come to take us back. Back to the shadows were we, belong," The feminine voice sang as they approached her cell.

"Bella," Lucius breathed.

"Hello Lucy, come to get me have you?"

"Yes, where are the others?"

"All are on this floor, is his lord really back? Has he really come?"

"Yes, Bella now come we must be moving our forces will not hold for long if they Aurors have arrived yet."

"They already have," Harry stated looking back down the hall they came from, "But they aren't alone."

Bellatrix gave him an odd look, not recognizing who he was at all. Shaking her thoughts off everyone followed her as they wandered down the corridors, to release her husband and his brother. When they were done they started their trek back to the entrance. Bellatrix laughed some more when she saw the battle field beyond the prison. Obviously, having wanted to join in on the fun, but unable to without her wand so she stayed back, swaying on her feet, as she watched with a wide grin.

Harry brought their group to safety on their side of the battle field before slipping away to their lord's side. Pressing his back to the dark lord's he spoke to him, his own wand casting spells verbally and wordlessly. Even some of his, own invented spells made it into the battle field. Green eyes hidden by steel grey were alight with excitement as people fell before him. His dragon was singing in enjoyment as people fell before his might.

"Your mission was a success?"

"Yes, my lord…" He paused to use a cutting hex on a nearby Auror, and his eyes watched in glee as flesh shredded before the spell, "We have located all loyal to you and we have recruits who wish to join."

"Well done my dragon, lets depart from here shall we?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Retreat!" Voldemort sounded and pops filled the air as people left the battle. Voldemort waited for the rest of his forces to leave before grabbing Harry and apparating them out of there and into Malfoy Manor.

Harry's whole form seemed to be giddy as he stood in the foyer. They had done it, they had infiltrated a prison no one could break into or out of. Not only that, but they had also stolen quite a few of the inmates, leaving very few behind that were to light to come along with them in order to save their own skins. A dark smile was on Harry's features, eyes still alight with the joy of inflicting pain or death on any that had dared to challenge him in battle. At one point Harry would have cringed at the thought of hurting another, but now however, Harry found a wonderful thrill in the act he'd never noticed before. Like a boiling brew the chaos spilled out over the well contained pot causing mayhem in its wake.

_**Next Chapter**__- The Black Storm_

_**Well everyone that is it for this chapter. Looking forward to your R&R's. See you all soon!**_


	11. The Black Storm

**Hello lovely Readers**

**I'm feeling a little dejected today, mostly because I got a really bad review. I want to let everyone know that I'm only writing this for fun, and yes I have issues with grammar, it's a problem I've always had and always will have. Short term memory problems, seems to do that to people… **

**As of right now I have no beta reader and probably never will. I don't have close friends who have time to read what I write, and there isn't much of anyone I trust past that so what you see is what you get. I'm sorry if it's a bit meh… But that is possibly just me, other than that my word documents don't seem to be coming up with grammar problems and so they are installed as is. I'm sorry if it is inconvenient for you…**

**Also keep in mind… not everyone reacts the same way, and there are many outcomes and possibilities that can take place… Rape and Abuse isn't all **_**'I'm scared so I'm going to be super distant and never allow contact.'**_** Hate to say this but there is more than that category on how people react, especially if it was on going.**

**Also about Harry being immortal :3 I will reveal if he is or not in a later chapter XD**

**tdjs: Thanks for the review and I understand so no worries. I have been quite busy myself so sorry this chapter is later than others. I was happy to put that chapter in, because it placed a bit of amusement into the story. Having a light air in an area when, Harry, and his parent's friends were being silly. **

**Yes, Draco will be showing up a lot more often now. As for Avery I'm going to put him at a distance, while Rookwood will stay aloof about the whole thing. Though, just because some haven't showed their reactions, yet doesn't mean Avery was the only one who thought that way, he was just more vocal about it. –chuckles- Snape on the other hand, I'm not quite sure what I'll do with him, so he will stay in a grey area in my mind for now.**

**As for Bella :3 there is a reason this chapter is called The Black Storm XD and I hope you enjoy it.**

**Also my college classes have started back up again, and writing will be slow from here on out until the term ends.**

**That's it for now folks. I look forward to things you have to say about it. Enjoy!**

Things in the story you might want to know.

"Talking/ spells"

_'Thinking/ sound affects/ Memories'_

_**-Parseltongue-**_

**.:**Spells**:.**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**- _The Black Storm_

Everything seemed to be in chaos, and it centered, around the death eaters that now packed the halls of the Malfoy Manor. Now safe behind the walls of the manor death eaters started removing their masks. Harry pushed the hood back revealing his long dark hair to people's views. Many who hadn't been at his revealing looked on at him in curiosity. When he slipped his mask off however, as well as the cloth covering the lower half of his face, many eyes grew wide. Steel grey eyes stared around the room at the present death eaters. Bellatrix's eyes widened a fraction obviously not having expected anyone else alive to support the Black family traits, yet here in front of her was one.

Harry looked up at Voldemort who nodded to him and Harry moved from the room. Harry walked down the hall a ways before pausing as he heard Bellatrix. She spoke quite loudly and it drew much attention especially the way she spoke. It was as though the women had the mind set of that of a child, though she was a heck of a lot more deadly than a child could ever be.

"Who was that?" she crooned to someone.

"He goes by the name Orion Black," A voice answered obviously being someone he'd met before, but couldn't place the voice.

"Black? That's impossible Sissy and my cousin are the only ones left."

"Obviously he is and word has it that he is the great, great, grandson of Marius Black."

Harry stayed where he was listening to the rather loud conversation. Then again it may be that it was just loud to him. He may be glamoured from his true form, but it did not mean it lessened any of his natural senses. He could practically imagine the wild hard woman's reaction to that as the conversation seemed to drift off to his finds on squibs. It was interesting to hear the thoughts of others on his research and to be honest he thought that some of the snide comments were unwarranted. The only thing was that Bellatrix seemed to grow more, and more fascinated with him as every bit of information came out of them.

"He is also a powerful ward maker, let alone a magic sensitive. His magic sensitivity however, is unlike any others I've heard of. Most magic sensitives are of a lower key often going as far as sensing and seeing auras. Orion on the other hand sees magic and not just auras. He can tell you and show you his ability through a spell he created. It is quite interesting to see him at work when he creates wards for people."

"Interesting," Bellatrix mused in a pouting way that was more thoughtful than anything.

Harry waited only a few moments longer before walking again. His destination Draco's room and he slipped into the room silently. Draco looked up from the spell book he'd been reading and a smile split his features. Harry couldn't help but answer that smile before sitting on the couch in the room, next to Draco.

"So, how did the raid go?" Draco gave a knowing smirk as though he knew something Harry knew not of.

"It went well. Aunt Bella is back in the safety of the house once again."

"Do you think she will react badly once she finds out you aren't who you say you are."

"It's possible… I mean she is the kind of person who is fiercely loyal to family and our lord. I don't even know if she would even give me a chance to explain that the Potter line has Black genes in it as well. I think however, that Sirius's use of the blood inheritance helped me to look more like they do when the inheritance took place. The dragon in me seems to favor the more regal features of the black family."

"Hmm… Don't worry Orion. I'm sure all will be well," Draco said as his hand landed on Harry's shoulder in comfort.

"I hope so, I mean… you and Bellatrix are the only family I have. Even if we are not directly blood related we are still so none the less," Harry said as he pulled the time turner out of his cloak.

"You have to go now don't you?"

"Yes, I need to show up as Orion in public so no one links me to the attack on Azkaban. Evan Spring will be suspected as well, but it is something to be expected from one living in the Malfoy house hold as a son."

"Do you not think it would be the same for a Black?"

"No… Orion Black was not raised as the others had been. Remember the back ground I came up with for him?"

"Orion was born across seas, in Japan?"

"Yes, and so he will not be easily influenced by the on goings here in Britain."

"Oh! I get it… your living style would be greatly different from the one here."

"Correct, in other words it means that the honor of my Japanese heritage would bind me to the lord in power. Thus, it would currently be Cornelius Fudge, since he is the man in charge of wizarding Britain."

"Huh, never thought of that."

Harry chuckled at that and Draco playfully glared at him, knowing just what thought that went through his head after what he had said. Rising from his seat he looked at Draco and bid him farewell. He used the time turner to go back in time, too around no one, before that night. Once the time turner stopped he looked over to the slumbering Draco, and chuckled at the boy in bed tossed sheets. He hissed in parseltongue to change his guise from Orion to Evan.

Living the day as both males was a tiring thing, but with his dragon blood he found out he could stay awake for a week before his dragon decided it was time to go to sleep. He had found this out after trying to test his limits to certain things. Glancing over at Draco he went over to the male's bed and poked the side of his face causing said boy to make a snuffling snort sound. This caused Harry to laugh out loud as grey eyes looked up at him through hooded lashes to glare at him. He got a fun idea, and wondered if he'd told Draco about the raid ahead of time. He had acted a bit indifferent about the whole thing. Not having given Harry any questions on it in the least.

"Sod off Orion…I'm still tired,"

"Oh come on you aren't happy to see me?"

Draco groaned, "No."

"Aww, come on you don't want to know the details of the raid later?"

That got Draco wide awake, bolting up in bed, "How did it go then?"

"It went splendidly, now come on and get up. We have a busy day today to keep illusions maintained."

Draco got up as Harry sat on the couch to read as Draco got himself ready for the day. Draco gathered his things and slipped into the bathroom. Instead of reading the print before him Harry's mind slipped off to Bellatrix. She was the only black left that he hadn't gotten close to yet. She was a part of not just his own family, but also the Malfoys' and to Sirius. Sirius had always been on his side, and Narcissa had followed only because of extenuating circumstances, that changed not only her mind about him, but everyone else he'd gotten close too as well. Hearing about the crazed women from Narcissa told Harry that she was fiercely loyal, but her loyalty to the dark lord was greater than her loyalty to her family.

Harry sighed and rested the open book in his lap as his head tilted back, besides that he didn't know how she would react to him if she found out his past. So far the only make interaction he even allowed himself to be in the company of is Lucius, Draco, and Tom. His mind wandered to the days before being the creature he was now. He'd always been distant, silent, and observant… he usually never allowed anything from another guy past a hand shake or a shoulder pat and even then he sometimes jerked slightly or became a bit quiet after such interactions' took place.

His reactions with Ron were another factor to put in. He took the others strikes without a word, almost as though he needed to take the hits. Like he deserved to be punished in a sense, but then he lashed out shortly afterwards. His reactions both miffed and scared him, to no end. Though, if he was being honest the fear of being violent was dwindling as his more, dragon like personality started to take over. He wasn't as resigned and had at least a bit more courage each time he told someone about his past. Now, the only issue in his path was Bellatrix Lestrange 'nee Black, since she was crazy for being stuck in Azkaban all those years ago. He'd seen the crazed look in Sirius's eyes before, and even now the man still showed it. The Black families inherited craziness was mostly strong in Bella, while Narcissa and Sirius weren't so much so.

He oddly wondered if he was becoming something like Bellatrix, with the Black insanity. Considering the blood inheritance he got from Sirius when he was a baby, and the fact that the dragon part of him favored the Black family traits, he wondered if it too would be a part of his new mentality. He knew his way of thinking was changing, and so were his emotional reactions. Sighing he looked over to the bathroom door where Draco stood watching him silently.

The blonds eyebrow was raised and the muggle saying _'penny for your thoughts'_ rang through his mind. Chuckling softly he only shook his head lightly as he looked at the boy, before closing the book he was attempting to read and set it down, on the couch. He walked past Draco as the other male put his pajamas on the bed, neatly folded before following the other male out of the room. Both silently made their way to the living area where Narcissa was sitting with Avery and Rookwood.

"Mother, Dray and I would like to know if we can go to Diagon Alley," Narcissa smiled warmly at them and nodded, before she got up to take them there.

Harry was glad the collar only allowed for the death eaters to see him when he was as Orion Black and not Evan Spring. Voldemort had told him the day after his revealing that he wanted it that way because of Snape. If the man knew he was Evan Spring, then the possibility of him telling the old fool while he was at Hogwarts was high. This led him to telling the dark lord what had happened when he'd gone to have some alone time to himself. Voldemort didn't seem surprised, and he told Harry why he felt he knew the man would react the way he did.

Snape had once loved Harry's mother and had despised his father. Yet he'd gone out of his way to make protection for his family because Lilly had loved them, but had only asked for her life to be spared by the dark lord. Harry knew the dark and light side to Snape's tale to his family, and Harry couldn't help but to have a certain respect for the man. He played both sides to try and protect that which he loved and in the end he'd lost it.

Harry followed Draco and Narcissa to the foyer and she apparated them to Knockturn Alley where they let Harry slip into an alleyway to change his glamour from Evan to Orion once more. Everyone who knew he was Harry was back at the manor _'resting'_, while Harry's other self was in training with Voldemort for that night. It felt strange for Harry to think there was two of him walking around, but as a later version of himself. He was surprised he hadn't gotten all mixed up with this time traveling thing, especially when he had to do so three times for one day.

Harry sighed, "Thanks Narcissa, I'm glad I could tell you, Lucius, and Draco about the time traveling. Sometimes I wonder if I might get into so much of a tangle with all of this."

Narcissa fondly slimed at him as Draco spoke when they started walking towards Diagon Alley, "So, what happened?"

Harry laughed at Draco's impatience, "Tonight the raid will go splendidly. Our lord decimated the wards splendidly and the Aurors guarding the entrance went down swiftly. We ran into a bit of a grey area with the dementors…"

"You're not still afraid of them are you? I know in third year you were quite put out."

"No, I'm not… I think I overcame that though they still make me uneasy," Harry grimaced.

"That's good."

"Indeed, now… We found a few new followers before we found Aunt Bella…"

"How was she?" Narcissa asked worried about her sister.

"She was… really thin, dirtied and wearing whatever they gave her to wear. Her mentality however… I'm not sure, though it seemed like she has the mentality of a child rather than a hardened warrior."

"Oh, Bella," Narcissa sighed softly.

"So what else happened," Draco asked.

"Well… after that Bellatrix lead us to the rest of the death eaters. We located anyone who wanted to come with us and those who were to light to want to join us stayed behind. Though, I can't guarantee they lived after we left them. Considering none of them had wands to defend themselves against the dementors once we left. They had probably been subjected to the dementors kiss once they were alone. I doubt the re-enforcement Aurors got to them in time… but what puzzles me is there was another group of people there that weren't Aurors. I didn't get to see who they were before I left, but it was just strange that someone who isn't an Auror was there."

"Hmm, do you think it was Dumbledore and whatever people he gathered together?"

"It's possible, but standing so close to our lord to tell him we had succeeded in our mission… I was unable to sense anything other than him, being so near."

"Well I'm sure we'll see them again right?"

"Yeah, I don't doubt that in the least," Harry said as they stepped into Diagon Alley.

Harry took note that there was, quite a few people he recognized. The Weasleys' were all out and about and had Hermione with them as well as Neville and Luna. That seemed odd to Harry since usually Neville and Luna never hung around with them outside of school. Draco seemed to take notice as well, but otherwise ignored them as Draco started to talk to him about the quidditch, matches that would be coming up soon. It was during this discussion that Arthur Weasley and Molly Weasley walked over to them while the rest of the others hung back, talking to one another.

"Hello, Mr. Black," Mr. Weasley said to Harry.

"Hello, Mr. Weasley is there something you need to discuss with me or Mrs. Malfoy?" Harry said reminding himself he wasn't Evan so he shouldn't call her mother.

"My wife and I wondered if you could possibly join us tonight for dinner at six. The kids have been, wanting to meet you after I told them about your magic abilities," He explained though, Draco had a look on his features that told him that he didn't like the idea at all.

"It would be my pleasure good sir, but I will have to show up a little late. I have to work on the wards for the Bones' family house, around that time so I will be a bit late," Harry had to keep up his appearance as being a good natured person from across seas.

It was good he'd delved into some books on the Japanese language… well a little that is. Otherwise he would be stuck between a rock and a hard place, and that was something he didn't want to happen this early in the game. Harry wanted to remain a mystery to people, and well out of their thoughts of him ever joining the dark lord as Orion Black. It was expected of Evan Spring since he was being raised by them, but as Orion Black who was an outsider and knew nothing of these things he wouldn't be expected too in the least.

Harry knew he was going to dread doing this, but he had to keep Orion Black out of the lights minds as an enemy. Molly smiled warmly at him as they spoke for a bit longer, before Harry bid them good day. Harry spent more time with Narcissa and Draco, before he had to go and get to work, and by the end of the day Harry was feeling tired. If one was to count that he lived the day twice without sleep then it was natural for someone who was human to be too tired to even move. Though, unlike most, Harry was not human and he dredged up the strength to keep moving. So when he made it finally to the Weasley's house with Narcissa's help he bid her good-bye and turned to the burrow.

Sighing Harry lifted his hand and knocked, who greeted him however, almost had Harry growling at the person, but he kept himself on a tight leash. He allowed only his eyes to narrow slightly but, otherwise nothing more than that. Dumbledore smiled at him, his eyes twinkling behind the glasses upon his nose. Harry felt his skin crawl at the stare and watched as the man just simply looked at him, until he felt the prod to his mental walls. It was only subtle, but Harry sensed it swiftly, and clamped down his mental shields and he frowned.

"If you wish to know something headmaster, then why not ask instead of trying to sneak into my mind," Harry said to the man curtly.

"I'm sorry dear boy, I was only curious," The old man said to him as he motioned Harry to enter. Harry hesitated a moment before entering the house, "The Weasleys' will be with us shortly… You ended up being later than expected."

"I apologize, the ward making tires me out most times and between traveling between jobs and to the ministry to register people's new wards into the filing system is quite tiring both mentally and physically."

"Quite true, how are you liking, it here?" Dumbledore went to touch his shoulder and Harry flinched away from the contact before the man had a chance to touch him.

"Sorry…" He mumbled softly, "But I do not like being touched by those I do not trust."

"It is alright, and you can trust me dear boy. No one here is out to hurt you and you can always rely on us if you get into trouble," He said peering over his spectacles at him, as if he was trying to relay that Harry was in some kind of trouble.

Harry mentally snorted at that, "I thank you, but never the less… There are things I can't change, since they are so deeply ingrained in me. Anyways we have gotten off topic… My stay has been quite nice as of late. The job is exciting and adequate enough for me. I enjoy the ability to help in protecting people through my ward making."

"Good, that is good to hear," Dumbledore smiled that grandfatherly smile and Harry felt the urge to rip the man's face off which had him mentally back tracking.

It seemed his dragon side did not like the man at all and was going as far as putting suggestions in Harry's head that he often used to agree with. Harry and Dumbledore stood in the sitting area for a while before the Weasley's and their company joined them. It seemed like they had put off eating until he had arrived and he oddly wondered if it was all Dumbledore's idea to do so or not. Harry gradually relaxed, regardless on the fact that Dumbledore was there over looking what was going on.

Hermione was asking about his wards, and the way he described the wards made the young which puzzled. Mostly because she never thought that wards could be created the way he made them. Most people tended to believe that wards were all made up of nothing but what most would consider light magic. Harry's own wards were made in a way that they were a twist of different types of magic, slipped all together in a blanketed weave of magic.

He even had Ron laughing at his attempts to create his wards in the beginning. It seemed the male red head was more open to Orion Black then he was Evan Spring and Harry chalked it up to the fact that he was a Black. Considering that Ron never disliked Sirius, and possible felt comfortable with someone of the same relation. Ron was a fickle person and when Harry asked about their time at school, Ron didn't hide his distaste for Evan, who was brought up several times by Hermione and a couple of times by Ginny who had a faint blush on her features.

Obviously the youngest Weasley had been watching him discreetly at school. If he'd thought he hadn't already had enough of her attention as Harry Potter, now he had it in another form as Evan Spring. Quite frankly he didn't want her attention at all, but he was getting it anyways whether he wanted it or not. It was saddening to him that he couldn't sit with his old friends as he used to, but he knew them better now from a new angle. He could never return to those old days no matter how he wished he could.

Neville and Luna even pitched in every now and again when something caught their attention. Harry was still weary of Luna, but she acted as if she didn't know him and wished to truly know him as Orion Black. She once again distracted Hermione from a topic or two with her talks of creatures that not many have ever seen, if even that. The bushy haired girl looked frazzled and kept chastising Luna for making up such stories, which led the girl to arguing with her that they indeed existed.

It was during their discussion of Orion Black's home town back in japan that midnight hit right on the dot. Harry was talking with Hermione when a man, flood into the room. Harry identified him immediately as Kingsley Shacklebolt, an Auror who was highly held for his abilities. He nodded to Mr. Arthur and looked to Harry surprised, but otherwise nodded to him. Obviously Voldemort had been right, people still suspected him because he was a Black rather than the fact that he was not from Britain.

The man spoke to Dumbledore in hushed tones, and Harry listened in on their discussion as he spoke to Hermione once again. He loved his ability to hear softer tones as though he was standing right there with them. It helped him to know just what they were talking about and that it had been about the attack on Azkaban, and that the Aurors were about to move in on the prison. The man also seemed reluctant to let Dumbledore know and to have him and his group _'The Order'_ assist them.

Dumbledore looked grave and turned to Mr. Weasley and beckoned him over. They all left without another word and he gave Mrs. Weasley a puzzled look. He wasn't the only one, since Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were doing the same thing. She fussed for a moment near the floo her hands fluttering as though she wanted to go after them, before she turned to them and calmed herself.

"I'm sure it's just nothing, no need to worry," She said softly, though her eyes showed her slight frantic feelings.

"If you say so Mrs. Weasley, but it looked rather urgent to me," Harry played it off trying his best, and succeeding, in looking worried.

The got into other discussions before everyone started falling asleep around the room, including Harry who was tired from his long day. He was close to falling asleep in the chair he was in when the floo lit up again and Harry sat up straight. Hermione was rubbing the sleep from her eyes as was Ginny, but Ron was flat out. Snoring away as drool trailed down the side of his mouth onto the armrest of the couch.

Arthur made his way over to Molly, and they whispered before she gasped in horror, "What does this mean?"

"It means he's back."

"Who's back?" Hermione asked before Ginny, who was shaking Ron awake, or Harry could do so.

"The dark lord is back."

"Dark Lord?" Harry asked giving a puzzled look, to play his ignorance on the matter.

"You don't know? I thought you would know since you have been staying with the Malfoys' at their manor."

Harry looked indignant by the accusation in his voice, "I may be staying there, but getting into their affairs is none of my business. I am just a stranger in a house… in a country… that is neither, my home, or my birth place. I wasn't planning on staying there any longer anyways. I just needed a place to stay until I found a place of my own."

Mrs. Weasley elbowed her husband and looked to Harry with a sheepish smile, "I'm sorry dear he didn't mean nothin' by it he, just assumed that you would know since you seem close to them is all."

"I'm sorry, but I do not know as to what is going on," Harry sighed looking frustrated.

"It is alright dear, what my husband meant by the Dark Lord was that there is a very evil wizard who has been brought back. You may have heard about the war that had taken place here in Britain?"

Harry nodded slightly, "Yes vaguely, but everyone has heard of it a bit. Though, it may have changed from person to person."

"Well that war was caused by the same Dark Lord that has appeared today."

"Wait I thought someone said he had died. If that is true then how did he come to be?"

"It is true he passed from this world back then as for how he came to be again, we are entirely unsure is to how that even happened. I'm sure Dumbledore might know, but he is busy right now."

Harry as there thinking putting up a front that showed he was in deep thought over what had been said. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, messing up the long black hair tied tight in a thick braid. His steel grey eyes seemingly unfocused, while on the inside he was weary on how to precede in their company. Eventually he just blinked tiredly and ran his fingers over his face in a sleepy gesture.

"This is a lot to take in and believe, I have no doubt what you say is true, but I, need more information to make an educated summation of what is truly going on. Right now however I am too tired to think it through right now, so if you'll excuse me I will return back to the manor and begin researching this… Dark Lord," He gave an exhausted expression.

"Oh you don't have to go I'm sure we can find a place for you to rest here," She said to him.

"No it is okay. You seem to have a full house as it is," He glanced over to Neville and Luna who had been silently reading in the corner before Mr. Weasley had returned, "Besides, I have not brought anything with me and I had promised Narcissa that I would not be staying too late." He looked to the clock and grimaced, "And it seems I have done the exact opposite of what I promised. Can I use your floo real quick?"

"Oh sure dear go right ahead," Mrs. Weasley fussed slightly before leaving him to make his fire-call and started shooing the others to their rooms for the night.

Harry spoke with Narcissa who told him she would be there shortly. While he waited he spoke with Mr. Weasley a moment more before he excused himself to go outside to Narcissa who was waiting patiently. She smiled gently at him before, she Apparated with him back to the manor, though not into the foyer like he thought she would, but into Harry's room itself. Harry sighed and looked to her with a smile.

"Orion you must get some rest you look like you are walking dead on your feet."

"Yes, I feel just like that, but I must report to him, regardless of my tired appearance."

"Do be careful…"

"You know me, careful isn't a part of my life and never will be," He chuckled, before leaving the room with her to the foyer where Lucius was waiting for him.

It was around then that he noticed the Manor was quiet, "Where is everyone."

"Our lord had moved those we gathered today to his manor, since there is the possibility the Aurors wil be dropping by to see if they are stowed away here," Lucius said to him.

"So we are meeting him at his manor then?"

"Yes, he has called a meeting and I have been ordered to only arrive when you got back."

"Okay, let's get going then," Harry said tiredly.

Lucius apparated both himself and Harry to Riddle Manor, he steadied Harry who wavered a bit on his feet. Lucius looked at him with worry only to have Harry wave it off with a light smile. They both proceeded to the same room the ritual had taken place those few months ago. Harry took a breath and straightened before masking his tiredness. He strode into the room, as several heads turned to look. Possibly wondering just who in their right mind would be late to the Dark Lord's meeting, as Harry and Lucius walked down the row leading from the door to the middle of the room, showing the divide of the lather large group there among the room.

"Orion, Lucius, it's a pleasure to have you both joining us," Voldemort practically purred.

Lucius and Harry went down on one knee showing respect to the Dark Lord. Bellatrix laughed form somewhere and there were a few dark chuckles from others as well. Harry really didn't like being like this, and he didn't like the fact that others were judging his tardiness to being something other than their lord's bidding. Not to mention it was to keep himself from being suspected as to what is taking place, and that he was even a part of it all.

"Rise Orion come to my side," He said before turning crimson eyes to Lucius, "Lucius you have done well return to your place on the inner circle."

Harry rose and made his way to Voldemort's side before turning to face the others in the room. Shock flickered over the faces that hadn't been there at his unveiling. Bellatrix was among them, but a wicked smile was split over her features. In short it made Harry feel a little chill run up his spine, which was weird since not very many people ever made his skin crawl like she did. Shaking off the strange feeling, he glanced over at the Dark Lord who was wearing a dark grin on his features.

"This is Orion Black as some of you have come to know him," He said as he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, "And he is a vital piece in this war then even you can imagine. Few of you have been privy to a knowledge others do not and I plan to keep most of you in the dark about it, until I deem it the right time too."

Voldemort was gently stroking a strand of hair at the side of Harry's face when one Death Eater spoke out, "M'lord surely you do not trust a foreigner in these affairs…"

Voldemort lifted an elegant brow, "Trust, Macnair? How can you… one of my own followers no less, talk of trust? None of you came for me the only ones who did…" He trailed off and called out Barty and Wormtail, "Wormtail found me, though it was fear that moved him to do so and not loyalty." The pathetic man sniveled and cowered under Voldemort's glare, "Young Barty has helped me greatly, for he gathered the necessary items I needed for my resurrection. The only issue was that the key ingredient had gone missing and I had to change my plans."

Harry wanted to flinch, but did not do so, "After weeks of searching for the key to my resurrection I young Barty stumbled across a very powerful wizard who would help our cause. I sent Nagini after him to recruit him to our cause, but it seemed he'd already planned on coming to me before he'd ever consciously made his decision. Orion soon joined me at my side, and he became the key to my resurrection. He is the reason I stand here before you now, he has a higher honor then any of you here today and he has given up much to get us to this point, even his health and sanity to do so."

He glanced at Harry his eyes narrowed slightly and Harry knew the other man knew of his tired state, "You will give him the proper respect that he deserves and you will treat him like you would treat me." The hidden threat made everything still in the people gathered in the room, "As of right now we will lay low. The Aurors will be on high alert and gathering our forces and building it will make our cause be readily at hand. We will wait until the right time to announce to the wizarding world that we are back and this time around nothing will stop us."

"My Lord what of the Potter boy?" a third tier death eater asked.

"He is of no consequence," Voldemort smiled, "If you have seen the news, the boy has vanished and has not contacted even the light of his existence. There for we will not worry about him and he does not stand in my way in this war anymore."

This was quite true in a manner of speaking, since Harry dropped his name sake and is literally not in his way, but is simply standing beside him through it all. Harry watched as emotions flickered across some people's faces while others stayed silently, stoic such as Snape and Lucius. As Voldemort spoke on about his plans for those within the ministry Harry took comfort in the Dark Lord's magic which always seemed to roll off him like dark intoxicating tendrils. His eyes became half lidded and his steel grey eyes shimmered lightly as he stood there exhausted.

"Now the rest of you may leave… my inner circle will stay behind for further information," Those that weren't needed left the roof, speaking softly amongst themselves and stealing glances in Harry's direction. Once alone the Dark Lord spoke up again, "My inner circle… some of you have been granted insight on my reasons for Orion here to be a part of our cause, while others had not. Avery, Lucius, Snape, Nott, and Rookwood all know which that I speak of." The rest of the inner circle looked at said people before looking back at their lord, "A few members of the other tears as well know of what I speak of. Now you all will be a part of it, and no one else," He said as he slipped his hand over Harry's collar.

They all stiffened at the sound of parseltongue being used by their Lord, none of them used to the sound coming from his lips, **-Reveal and Bind-**

Harry's appearance melted away and at first Harry's face was down turned enough that his eyes were hidden from view. His wings pealed themselves from the tattoos on his back, flexing outwards as his tail thumped heavily against the ground. Pointed ears peaked out and away from his head as gasps of surprise filled the room, but what got them all startled was the vivid Avada Kedavra green eyes that glittered at them when Harry raised his head to look at them. The look on Bellatrix's face was caught between horror, anger, and surprise. It was obvious even in this form that he supported the Black family features and she was putting puzzle pieces together in her head slowly.

"Little Potter," She cooed with a pout on her features, "come to play with the big kids?" She smiled a dangerous glint in her eyes.

A few of the other death eaters had pulled out their wands, and Harry's reaction was instantaneous. A growl lifted from his throat and filled the air before he was away from the Dark Lord's side and gripping Mulciber by the throat and lifting him off the ground. Harry's dragon side obviously had enough with people pointing their wands at him. On top of that Harry was really tired and his dragon didn't take kindly to being threatened even in a slightly weakened state. Harry looked Mulciber straight in the eye and he hissed a dragon like his that had the man shivering in his grasp at the sound of it.

"I am sick and tired of people's reaction to my presence… is to point their wands at me," He tightened his grip on the man's throat a bit and he dropped his wand to grasp at Harry's wrist in a failed attempt to try and keep level in his grasp, "I have half a mind to kill you, but it would be against our lord's best interest if I did so." He set Mulciber back on his feet and the man started to gasp for air as he stepped back away from Harry.

Harry glanced at the others only to narrow their eyes on them, noting none of them had lowered their wands yet. At this point even Bellatrix had her wand out, eyes excited like she was waiting for the command to kill him. A black storm was building in her eyes and he could see it coming from a mile away. Everyone stood there as Mulciber picked up his wand again, but this time did not raise it to Harry, not wanting the dragon's wrath on him again.

Snape spoke up, "Fools put your wands down, have you forgotten what our lord as spoken to use about. If harm were to come to him you would suffer a fate worse than death."

At that thought those with their wands up put them down, all except Bellatrix whose eyes were flashing with a dark storm that almost burned like fire. Harry's eyes locked with hers and he felt that chill run down his spine again. He could see her anger and mistrust, as she was more inclined to take him out more than anyone. He may support the Black family traits, but she did not recognize him as anything other than Harry Potter.

"Bella, put your wand down," Voldemort demanded in a sharp tone.

She looked over to him wide eyed, "but my lord he-"

"It's okay my lord, this… is something that needs to be done," Harry said looking over at him and Voldemort's eyes flashed over to him. He could see the anger there that Harry was allowing this to happen and he knew if Harry got killed or severely hurt he would not hesitate to take it out on Bellatrix's hide.

Bellatrix cackled before she unleashed a spell, which Harry countered with a, none verbal spell. The witch having dropped into a, predator like stance ready to pounce, her prey at any moment. Rosier and Rodolphus, stepped back as spells started to race through the air between the two combatants. Bellatrix laughed out as she made Harry dodge a, **.:**Confringo**:.,** before it could hit it's mark. Harry's wings stayed tucked up behind his back to keep them from becoming targeted key points to his person.

Though, he was pretty sure not much could harm the scale armored wings that classed his feathers in place on the appendages, **-Diffindo-**.

Bellatrix yelped slightly when the severing charm only seemed to nick her arm, having dodged it enough that she was lucky only that had happened and that she hadn't lost her arm in the process. Wide silver grey eyes looked at him in surprise obviously having thought the Boy-Who-Lived, wouldn't use spells that could harm someone. Considering his famously used spell was the disarming spell. Harry's eyes looked at her cold and calculatingly, and Bella's response to the severing charm was few dangerous spells of her own such as **.:**Expulso**:.** and **.:**Flagrate**:. **Though, when she really got serious she started using, **.:**Avada Kedavra**:.** Into the mix, which Harry became weary of instantly.

Harry rolled out of the way of a jet of magic that looked almost neon purpled in color. As they battle drew on the more the dark haired woman became angrier, "Ickle Potter, you dare take the name of the noble house of Black?"

"I did not take it, since it is a part of who I am," he said as he threw up a ward to block a very nasty Hex from reaching him.

He was tired, and his limbs started to feel heavy to him, "Oh? How so then, little Potter?"

"Sirius," That was the only thing he had to say for her to understand.

"My cousin?" she laughed and it resounded off the walls of the almost empty room, "he has made the game fun now." He grin was wide as the madness clicked through her eyes, before she stepped up her game.

Her attacks came more readily and with powerful strokes of her wand she forced Harry to dodge more often, forgoing his shielding wards in favor of simply avoiding her spells. His enhanced speed helped him to avoid most of the spells sent towards him. However, in his tired state a nasty severing hex was sent his way when he almost lost his balance, and he threw up a ward only for the hex to go through it and hit him in the chest. He was lucky that the ward had banished most of the attack or he wouldn't be standing.

None the less it hurt like hell, and it looked like someone took a couple swords to his chest in a slashing _'X'_ motion. Harry looked down at his chest and looked up slowly to Bellatrix who was laughing maniacally at him, sticking out her tongue lightly to bite on it. Harry's eyes narrowed and hardened like Jade jewels and a dangerous hiss left his mouth that caused her to still before a barrage of spells headed her way.

"Thashill," Harry shouted.

Thashill was spell he'd created shortly after helping Voldemort come into power. The spell was one that could rip skin off the targeted area. It was a rather messy spell that caused a lot of blood loss. It would also cause a burning feeling as though the skin had been burned off by acid. Though when the spell hit a surface that wasn't made of flesh the object would melt like acid had been splashed upon it. This is exactly what happened when Harry's spell had been dodged, by Bellatrix. A hole appeared in the flooring just behind her, Harry having aimed at her feet in a vicious attempt to down her.

Bella paused and looked from the melted hole in the floor to Harry who was readying to cast another spell of his making. Bella started to realize now she was on the run from quick spell casting that was faster than her own. Vicious growls left Harry's parted lips, as they drew back away from sharp pointed canines that elongated in a threatening way. The previous Harry from before having vanished under the weight of his dragon side not liking to be challenged the way Harry was being challenged.

Bella dodged another severing curse that slashed, at her legs, cutting them slightly as she dashed away from the curse before it could do much damaged to her. Harry's own wounds seemed to heal at a slower rate than most dragons but, still fast enough to show the power of it. The wounds crusting over and starting to flake as he moved, and dodged attacks. Both, having been trained by the dark lord, one being inventive and cunning in his attacks, while the other had years of practice and a cynical way about her attacks.

Before long however, Bella started to tire while Harry seemed un-phased by the physical excursion of it all. One particular spell had he being blasted backwards into the wall, immediately causing her to crumple to the floor as Harry advanced upon her like the predator he seemed to be. Before he could reach her, however, Voldemort grabbed him and forcibly held him against his chest. Completely capable of holding the boy in place with little to no problems as the boy snarled his protest.

"Calm yourself my little dragon, all is well," he said as he stroked his finger nails along his scalp roughly, showing his slight anger and yet pleasure at the fact that his little dragon had won the fight.

Bella whimpered on the floor her wand away from her person, and out of reach from her grasp. She had lost fair and square, and if it hadn't been for the Dark Lord intervening than the woman would be dead at Harry's feet right about now. Voldemort continued his words to the boy, until he calmed and the growls and soft hisses subsided. Harry's body went lax as he returned to his senses, mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point that it made him seem almost physically exhausted, which was not the case in the least.

Voldemort looked to Snape and Lucius, "Get her out of here and to her room… also, Lucius, Harry will be staying here tonight."

"Yes my Lord, will you be joining the festivities tomorrow?" Lucius asked.

Voldemort remained silent as he stroked Harry's hair gently, "I believe I will be."

"I will let my wife know and have the usual area set up away from the party goers," Lucius said as he bowed at his waist, before helping Snape in getting Bella out of there and to a room within the manor for her to stay in.

Everyone trailed out of the room as they were dismissed, and looks were thrown Harry's way. He knew that in the end he would never gain everyone's friendship, but that was to be expected. He had to prove himself to them and he would gladly show them proof that he was worthy of their Lord's praise.

"I should punish you for that stunt, Harry," Voldemort hissed into his ear, "I will not have them testing my patients of words. Next time I will not sit idly by. I only did so now, because you had a reason to do so." He growled as he tilted Harry's head back a little roughly, "Remember Harry I give you freedom, but I can also take it away."

Harry stared up at him and whimpered softly, his dragon side submitting to what it saw as the dominant being. Voldemort loosened his grip on Harry's hair and rain his fingers along the side of his face, humming as he did so. Harry's eyes drooped as he relaxed, after the anger in Voldemort seemed to pass after the words were said. Something about the man's eyes seemed different. Though, Harry couldn't place it, he was too tired to think about what was different about Voldemort's eyes.

Voldemort apparated the both of them, to his room as he cradled Harry close to him. The young dragon, not having much time to think about anything other than sleep as his mind started to shut down at that moment. He could have sworn he heard the man chuckle, but it was lost to him as his whole being slipped into the land of dreams without much of a fight left in him to do so.

* * *

_**Next Chapter**__- Paws, Teeth, and Fire_

_**Well everyone that is it for this chapter. Looking forward to your R&R's. See you all soon!**_


	12. Paws, Teeth, and Fire

**Hello lovely Readers,**

**Here is the next installment of A Shadowed Life everyone.**

**Thank you all for the encouragement, and I will try not to let others get me down about my grammar issues. For those curious about the Japanese part of Orion Black's back ground. Remember I turned Harry into a bit of a magical inventor, the story has a few of the original guidelines such as the tournament (Which I ended before it began XD), but I added quite a lot of things to this story version of what I'm making. If people can create spells to unlock doors and other such things, then why not create a spell that you can use, (both non-verbal/wandless magic and verbally/wand usage) then why not a spell that can change you're language?**

**It's one of the few spells I had Harry create during the time I never covered in the story, but will be revealed later on in chapters to come. Plus I kind of placed people at taking it at face value and not questioning him about it by changing the topic on them and having Harry explain other things in detail to catch their attention onto something else other than his past. His twisting of the whole Black family tree thing was a spur of the moment thing to explain himself, and with his almost dragon like mind he wove a perfect tale swiftly as he thought about several things at once. **

**It is kind of like he has several thoughts, all at once and is able to keep himself from being discovered. Remember in old dragon stories dragons were highly intelligent creatures and not what the Harry Potter series makes them out to be. Who knows what Harry's dragon side really is and the fun of it all is that with magic, anything can happen. I hope this clears up the confusion in that aspect. **

**chochowilliams****: Ah good question, they got past the wards because they had been there simply to retrieve and did not intend to harm anyone. Harry had built the wards to protect against violent acts of aggression and anyone who planned on causing harm. Since they did not intend to harm anyone, they incapacitated them in a way that was neither harmful, nor deadly. Because of this the wards did not see them as a threat and they were allowed in without being evicted from the premises. **

**Also since neither of them apparated there and simple stormed in via the front door, the wards did not stop them from entering, in such a way. **

**That's it for now folks. I look forward to things you have to say about it. Enjoy!**

Things in the story you might want to know.

"Talking/ spells"

_'Thinking/ sound affects/ Memories'_

_**-Parseltongue-**_

**.:**Spells**:.**

**Chapter Twelve**- _Paws, Teeth, and Fire_

Harry woke slowly to the rise and fall of someone breathing, the warmth against him comforting and safe. Harry snuggled closer to the warmth of the one close to him, his mind vaguely telling him this was the Dark Lord he was cuddling with. Yet a part of him also didn't care that he was snuggling up against the Dark Lord. He felt the chest his head was resting on, rumble softly in a low soft chuckle. A hand lazily stroked up and down his scales on his spine, which caused him to shiver heavily and nuzzled into his chest.

"Little dragon it's time to wake up," Harry could hear the smirk that was possibly on the man's lips and Harry sighed.

He'd never felt this safe laying close to another person's arms. Vernon had always made him feel dirty, but Tom made him feel warm and safe. Almost as though he belonged there, and Harry wasn't going to let that bother him at all. He liked the thought of belonging with the man he was currently laying with. A soft dragon like purr built up inside of his and reverberated into a soft that filled the air, causing Voldemort to pause in his light stroking along his back, before picking up once again.

"I sound almost like a kitten when you do that," Voldemort laughed softly.

Harry groaned sleepily, "m'not a kitten."

Voldemort laughed out loud and stroked his fingers through Harry's Harry, "Could have fooled me, purring like you're the most content house cat in the world."

Harry poked Tom's side, but the reaction he got was not something he expected since Tom jumped after he'd done so, "What was that?"

Big green eyes looked up into wide crimson eyes, obviously not having expected that kind of reaction to come from his, own body either, "Nothing."

"Liar," Harry smirked a wide devious smirk, before Harry's fingers started to tickle Tom's sides causing the man to bite back a laugh.

"Stop I'm warning you Harry," Voldemort's face was split with a wide grin his eyes holding a mirth not many ever saw and Harry wondered if he was the first to see it.

"No, I think I like you this way," Harry laughed.

In one swift the man had gathered his wrists in each hand and flipped them over, pinning Harry's hands next to his head and Harry froze. He looked up into mirth filled crimson eyes as the man took in shallow breaths from Harry's tickling onslaught. A shiver raced down Harry's spine, and he found it unpleasant. Harry closed his eyes and willed away the images that tried to come to the forefront of his mind. He didn't notice the lack of hands on his wrists, and the fact a gentle hand was stroking the side of his face as soothing words slipped past Tom's lips.

"Hush my little dragon, you're okay I'm not going to harm you."

Harry opened his eyes and realized they stung slightly and he blinked a few times only to realize he'd started crying, "I'm s-sorry…"

"It is not your fault my little dragon," Voldemort rolled off of him and to the side to pull him against his chest, "I do not blame you for this at all. I blame those damn filthy muggles that broke you."

Harry buried his face into Voldemort's chest his eyes clenched shut as he layed within his arms. His body was trembling lightly as he sought out the safety and comfort of those arms wrapped almost possessively around him. He knew that Tom was only playing around and his retaliation hadn't been a sexual one. He knew he was safe, yet the position he'd found himself in had triggered something in him to react in such a way. Harry took a few deep breaths and tried to reassemble himself to a calmer note.

"Come little dragon, it's time we head over to the Malfoys' house. Narcissa is probably beside herself with worry for you," he said softly as he placed a kiss on top of his head.

Harry nodded, once his shivers had died down, "Okay."

"Good, now let's get ready," Voldemort said squeezing him once before letting go and rolling off the bed.

Harry followed only to realize that Voldemort had undressed him and had left him in his boxers all night. He blushed heavily as he kept himself covered with the blanket. Harry looked over to Tom when he started to laugh lightly at the blush on Harry's face. He walked over and placed something on the bed before him. Harry looked at it a bit puzzled before his eyes went wide and he reached out to it. It was a robe that was red and had green leaf patterns that ran along the edge like garland and white fur lined the inside of the robe.

"It's beautiful," Harry mumbled softly.

"I'm glad you like it, I want you to wear it today. Narcissa had planned to inviting a lot of people today and I want my little dragon looking his best today at the Christmas party," he smiled widely at Harry and ran his fingers through his bangs to see shimmering green as they started at him widely.

Harry smiled at him and nodded slightly, "Okay."

Harry climbed out of the big, soft, and warm bed and slipped on the black slacks, which were lined in silk, before he reached for the white button down shirt that would be under the robes he would be wearing. He practically purred when he got the robes on, loving the warmth of them. It seemed with Harry's dragon side he loved warmth and never seemed to get over heated at all. Voldemort chuckled softly at the purr that emitted from Harry's lips, before he grabbed his wrist and yank him towards him.

"You look wonderful in that," he said softly.

Harry blushed and buried his face into Tom's chest, "Really?"

"Yes, really Harry," he ran his fingers through Harry's hair and kissed to top of him head, "come let's get going."

Harry mumbled his glamour password and held onto the Dark Lord as the man apparated them from the house to Malfoy Manor. As soon as they made it there they were greeted by the sight of a packed house full of people. Music was playing from somewhere within the manor, and the sound of voices carried over the house, in light murmurs of conversation. The plan for that day was that Evan would be out of town with a few friends while Orion would be at the party that Narcissa had planned for.

Voldemort steadied Harry, still not used to apparating or traveling by floo and he wondered if he would ever be used to it. He glanced up to see that the Dark Lord had glamoured his hair color and eyes. His hair was no longer black, but a chestnut brown and his crimson colored eyes where an ocean blue color. Harry and Voldemort left the foyer area and made their way to where the guests were all standing and chatting away about whatever they thought was important to talk about.

Harry recognized a few of the guests Cornelius Fudge, the Greengrass's, Bartemius Crouch Sr., Amelia Bones, and Bathsheba Babbling. There might have been more, but Harry couldn't have it in him to care much. There were also a lot of other people he didn't know, and a lot of them seemed to be ministry workers he had yet to meet, Aurors he didn't know, and foreign country men that he'd never met, but would probably meet today.

Voldemort placed a hand on the small of his back causally moving him forward. Harry was nervous and his dragon side wasn't enjoying the huge get together. Dragons rarely cluttered together, mostly because they feared being too much of a large target when they were together in a large mass. They only gathered for mating season to raise their young, since having more than one or two dragons about was safer to raise young in than when they were alone. On rare occasions they would gather when a threat threatened to wipe out their existence.

Wizards and humans alike misunderstood dragons greatly, and they were quite intelligent creatures and powerful. The current generation of dragons had been too integrated into their beast like behavior that they have forgotten what they could be. Harry understood more about dragons now then he'd ever had the chance too. Tom had given him a few books on dragons when Harry came to accepting his role in the war after the Dark Lord had risen into his true form.

Harry glanced up at the Dark Lord beside him as the man chatted with a ministry member by the name of Dolores Umbridge. Harry had only met the women a few times and her ghastly outfit made, Harry want to curl his nose in disgust. The woman obviously liked the color pink to a horrendous degree and she didn't hide that fact at all. She definitely stood out amongst the crowed, and Harry stayed close to Tom because he knew the man didn't like her. Just by his expression alone, though it looked polite, Harry could see traces of the man's wearing patience with the women.

Harry knew that his life from the time he chose to help the Dark Lord would change. Whether that was good or not remained to be seen and Harry hoped that he would never have to fight the man again. The only problem was a prophecy that had been made about them, one that Harry had never heard the words for and the Dark Lord had heard only part of it. He hadn't asked the man about it and quite frankly didn't want too.

For once he was making his own choices and no one had a hand in his own destiny, but himself, with or without the prophecy. To Harry all that prophecy was, was a way to control his own fate and he wanted nothing to do with it. Harry jumped slightly as he was startled from his own musings when Cornelius walked up from behind him. They had stayed in the area for a while so people would see that Orion had showed up to talked briefly with each acquaintance and those he had yet to meet. So the minister was bound to notice sooner or later.

"Orion it is nice to see you, I thought at first you wouldn't be here but I guess I was pleasantly proven wrong," The man said with a wide smile.

"Hello, Mr. Fudge I am sorry I wasn't here earlier, but I was otherwise in disposed," He said giving a sheepish smile.

"Ah, I heard from Narcissa Malfoy that you had been feeling unwell the other day. I am glad it was nothing serious and that you have gotten over the slight ailment."

"Yes, I was feeling rather exhausted. They day had been long and tiresome."

"I heard you stayed at the Weasley's house for quite a while, Shacklebolt told me you were having a nice chat with the young ones there."

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley was kind enough to invite me, and I was a bit late getting there because of all, the ward making I had been doing that day."

"Ah, speaking of which, will you have the new documentation in before the end of the holidays?"

"Of course, I don't like neglecting work for too long. It should be in in the morning," Harry said, barely noticing that both Tom and Umbridge had stopped talking to listen in on their conversation.

"Good, it warms me to know your wards are out there protecting families," He smiled at Harry, little did he know that Harry was a Dark wizard under the Dark Lord's orders and his wards could turn into a weapon just as fast as they are used for defending.

"Mr. Fudge," Dolores said in a very annoying voice that grated on Harry's nerves, "I was wondering maybe you could create a department in the ministry directly in correlation with the ward makers. It would definitely make Mr. Black's Job easier and would help to keep the department organized in the filing of the ward systems for the homes and businesses that ward makers, such as Mr. Black, can keep in order."

"What an exhalent idea Dolores," He turned to Harry, "If I were to create this Ward maker department would you be in interest in running it?"

Surprised flitted across his features, "If you insist minister then I would be delighted in doing so."

"Fantastic, I will owl you when the preparations for the department have been finalized and when I will expect to see you there by."

"I look forward to it sir," He said shaking the man's hand.

Cornelius and Dolores stepped away from him and Voldemort, to speak with a few others. Harry was ecstatic, and couldn't wait for these proceedings to take place. Voldemort expressed his pleasure with a light squeeze to his shoulder when he moved away towards a door to the back of the room. Harry knew he was supposed to follow and found himself and the Dark Lord being greeted by a cloaked figure who, bowed to Voldemort and nodded to Harry.

Judging by the magical signature it was someone Harry didn't know amongst the death eaters yet. They walked to another door that lead outside to a patio that was completely decorated and gathered there was Voldemort's followers. They were all dressed in appropriate attire with their cloak hoods down and masks off. Harry could see all of their faces just like the night they all came back from the raid on Azkaban.

When they saw their lord they all stopped and bowed in his direction, as the Dark Lord made his way to the table that seated his inner circle. As he sat down he motioned for Harry to take the seat next to him and he did so without a word. Once they were both seated everyone else sat down as well and continued on in their conversations.

"My lord, a few of us were curious, just as to how Orion here came to be in your care?" Lestrange Sr. asked from where he sat.

"He isn't in my care, but in the Malfoy's care, as for how he came to be among us… I thought I had told you I had Nagini find him and bring him to me. He is the reason I am back," Voldemort's eyes narrowed, not liking having to repeat himself.

"Yes, my lord I mean about how you came to know Orion's Light counterpart," He was referring to Harry himself and not his Alias, because of the other death eaters there that did not know of Harry.

"I have my ways Mr. Lestrange and if your question also entails to why I did not do what you expected me to do is my own business and Mr. Black's as well. If he wishes to tell you then I will not stop him, but it is our secret and I do not wish to divulge it. Mr. Malfoy and Mrs. Malfoy know of it as does their son, but they agreed not to speak of it until Orion speaks of it first."

Most of the inner circle looked puzzled and didn't understand why the Dark Lord gave special treatment to Harry and no one else. Harry nearly jumped out of his seat, not having noticed that Bellatrix had gotten up only to wrap her arms around Harry almost tenderly. Harry looked up at her with wide steel grey eyes and she laughed slightly.

"Itty bitty Orion did I scare you?" She smiled widely and Harry had to control the urge not to get up and move away from her.

"No… you just surprised me is all," It was easy for him to lose track of other people's auras when sitting so close to a Dark Lord that literally screamed powerful in every drop of magic that seemed to pour from the man's form.

She pouted and stroked the side of his face, and he sat there as still as a statue, "You have spoken to Sissy about whatever it is, but not to Aunty Bella."

"Sorry I wasn't thinking about telling you when you seemed keen on killing me the other day," he said softly to keep his words hushed that only the inner circle and the Dark Lord heard it.

Bella laughed and so did a few others around their table, "You had to prove your worth, prove your Black heritage wasn't a waste," she purred in his ear.

"Did I pass your test then?" Harry asked slowly relaxing, since it seemed she wasn't bent on killing him at the moment.

"Hmm…" she hummed and a thoughtful look came to her features, "You ARE strong, and worthy enough to be by our lord's side," she pouted, "Little Orion almost killed poor Bella."

Harry ducked his head, "I'm sorry."

Bella's smirked widened and laughed, "Itty bitty Orion, has passed the test," she whispered into his ear, "Dear cousin made a good choice in you little potter."

Harry kept himself from jerking away from Bella when she whispered in his ear, "Glad to hear."

"Welcome to the family cousin," She announced more loudly.

Bellatrix may be crazy, but something told Harry she wasn't as crazy as people said she was. There had to be some kind of method to her madness. One day she was up to killing him, and then the next she was clinging to him and acting like a family member would, or at least as close to acting like a family member as Bellatrix could get. She seemed to also have personal space issues, which Harry knew he would have to get used to if Bella was to be sticking around him more often.

There was one thing he knew about purebloods though, when it came to family they were a tight nit group. Bellatrix was loyal to her family and just a fiercely loyal to the Dark Lord, if not more so. Harry shivered lightly when he felt her hand run across his thigh and he shifted his thigh away to get out of her reach. Then again maybe he was wrong about the women's sanity… it wouldn't be the first time he was wrong about something.

Bellatrix laughed and pulled away before walking over to sit down on the other side of Lucius who was sitting next to Harry silently. Lucius looked to Harry with a raised brow and Harry only shook his head and looked away. A light tinting to his cheeks could be seen, mostly because he was embarrassed that Bellatrix had done that. If there was one thing he hadn't expected it was her trying to do something intimate like that to him.

He glanced up and over at the Dark Lord who was sipping at a red wine, his glamours down since no one was allowed in this area other than the death eaters themselves. Crimson eyes were watching him in silent question, but also narrowed as if he knew what had taken place. He wouldn't put it past the man to know what had happened. His blush intensified and he looked down at his plate, only minorly distracted by the fact that Tom's eyes seemed different to him somehow.

He quickly popped a piece of ham into his mouth to distract himself from the Dark Lord's stare and listened to the conversations going on around them. Harry kept having vibes thrown at him and Harry took the challenges of the verbal sparring that Avery often sent his way, as well as Lestrange Sr., Dolohov, Mulciber, and Rosier. He had a feeling he would always have issues with them, even if Avery respected him a bit more since the attack on Azkaban.

Avery would be the least likely to want to stab Harry in the back, but would do it in a moments, notice if he believed Harry was more of a liability rather than a help to their lord. As for Rookwood, he wasn't so sure about for he seemed to just silently observe everything and take it all in stride. Though, he would speak up every now and again and Harry found a strange camaraderie in the man. The man acted as though that they had known each other for years and Harry felt happy to know that he'd made one friend in the group of death eaters, other than Nott who, was Theodore's father, seemed to be unable to be nasty to Harry because of his friendship with Theo.

Looking at the man, made Harry worry about the day he would have to tell his friends who he really was. How would they take it? Would they welcome him and accept him for who he was rather than what society had made him to be? Either way he would rather have at least some friends amongst the group of death eaters. Too many people looked at him with hate in their eyes, or a softer indifference. He had family yes, but friends where a thing he had yet to truly gain… Blaise, Theo, Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, plus anyone else, within Slytherin house, he'd gotten close too, could all slip away like a, elusive dream.

Harry wasn't Naïve to note that he could lose everyone he'd called friend within a short span of time. He just hoped that knowing who he is now rather than who he used to be would be enough to keep everything he'd built for himself without the influence of the light. For now he would deal with the people at this point in time that hated him, in a new way. Harry consciously made the decision to leave the old Harry behind, and become something new.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

The rest of the Holiday weekend went well, other than Bella causing a few disturbances. She'd gotten to the point that she often dragged him off to duel with him, since she couldn't get their lord to duel with her because of his constant meetings he'd started having with his followers. Not to mention his paper work that he was trying to keep up with. Harry had to admit, that he was glad he was on Bellatrix's side rather than on the opposite one. Bellatrix, he found out, was a vindictive women and what happened in the hall that one day she got him back for.

Harry had figured she would try and she did with her own little quirks to it all. Other than that the train ride back to Hogwarts was interesting as well. That is if you can call Ronald trying to beat the living daylights out of Draco interesting. Harry hadn't been around for that little incident and he wished he had, because after he found out Harry was more than ticked off.

"I wish I'd been there Drake," Harry hissed his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"For some reason I wish you'd been there too, but… I suspect Dumbledore finding out that you ripped the weasel limb from bloody limb wouldn't go over to well," Draco said holding a cold wet cloth to the side of his face, where his skin had split from one of Ron's punches.

Harry snorted, "Like I care?"

"Do you?"

"No… that me is gone," He looked at Draco square in the eyes, "It's no more mister nice guy."

Draco held up his free hand, "Okay, okay I get it."

Harry sat down next to Draco, "You know by now Drake when I make up my mind I stick to it."

"Yeah, yeah… don't remind me," He sighed, "By the way Granger throws a mean right hook… Weasel got a taste of it today… didn't expect her to jump in on my account."

"A lot of things could happen, Drake, if you'd learn to shove your views up your arse before letting it fall from your lips," Draco gave an indignant sound.

"What?" He squeaked.

"Oh come on you can't tell me your prejudice views aren't the ones keeping people other than purebloods from being your friends," He shot at him, "besides I told you Hermione isn't a complete muggle born, she was born from a squib… who society looks down upon… that was from a pureblood family. The only question is which one…"

Draco grumbled to himself, "Fine I'll try it your way then… I'll be a bit more OPEN minded."

"Good… you could learn a lot from it," Harry chuckled and Draco playfully slugged his arm.

The train stopped a few hours later, their conversation having been cut off when the rest of their Slytherin friends showed up. Effectively trailing the conversation into questions about each, others holiday back home. Harry himself had been spoiled on Christmas day, since Lucius and Narcissa decided to make it his best Christmas ever. Even Bella had gotten him something… even if it was a pair of black leather pants and burgundy tight leather tank top, topped off with a pair of knee high combat boots to match.

At first Harry had been embarrassed, but when Draco and Bella persisted that he go, and put them on he found he quite liked the outfit. Draco's present had been a Chinese dragon pendent that could be attached to his collar. During school he had it glamoured to be invisible to people's eyes that weren't keyed into his collar. Lucius and Narcissa had practically bought him a whole new wardrobe, plus some odds and ends from the muggle realm that he thought he would never see the purebloods touch let alone buy them for him.

Tom's was the best though, and Harry had to say he was growing quite fond of the dark lord. Tom's gift was dragon blade daggers, and an unhatched pet baby dragon Osiris insisted on calling Shini, short for Shinigami, when it hatched. From what Tom described of the dragon it was really old and could only be found in Egypt. It was a serpent that had wings that are located at the base of its skull. Tom thought it a good idea to get a dragon he could talk to easily, and learn about the dragon within him alongside another dragon.

The dragon was called a Quetzalcoatl, though this one was a more distant cousin to its ancestors, yet still bore the same name. This feathered serpent was possibly even more deadly than a basilisk and it can control its powers when a basilisk cannot. Tom said he would watch over the egg while he was gone, though he was sure wouldn't be often because he was still going to be using the time turner the rest of the year.

It was during his thoughts about his soon to be new pet dragon that he was rudely shoved from his thoughts. Harry stumbled and was caught by Theo who happened to be the one he'd been shoved into. Harry's eyes narrowed as he looked up and noted the frown and angry look on Theo's visage. Only one person could cause that face and Harry knew that he would be starting off with a bad first day back at school.

"Think you're so special don't you Evan? Your poor sob story doesn't blind me, and I'm going to prove to everyone that you're a fake," Weasley lunged at him and landed a sharp blow to Harry's jaw.

Harry hit him back, knocking Ron unsteadily on his feet to land harshly on the ground and he hissed at him, "Piss poor attitudes can get you into trouble Ronald."

"If it helps to get rid of you then I'm willing to try," He pounced and knocked Harry to the ground.

Several blows were thrown before a rather large hand, picked Harry up off of Ron who now had a broken nose and his skin was cracked a bruised. The only thing Harry had to show for it was a swollen cheek and cracked lip. Harry had, had to force his healing affinity to be slower so as not to give himself away. The spell book he'd barrowed from Tom was a great was to learn how to manipulate his own healing affinity.

"Now what's up with y'eh," Hagrid boomed, "You two, be act'n like a bunch of squabbling Thestrals."

Neither of them spoke, both boys were glaring daggers at each other when another voice joined in, "What's going on here?"

"Professor McGonagall, I just, be split'n these two up from a right bloody fight."

"You two are at it already so early from getting back… I guess it can't be helped. Twenty points from the both of you and you will have detention with Professor Snape starting this afternoon. Do not show up late or you will be serving detention with him for the rest of the week."

Harry played the good student and ducked his head looking ashamed while Ron looked as though someone had socked him in the stomach, "But professor."

"Don't _'but,' professor_ me Mr. Weasley. Perhaps you should have thought about your actions more clearly before starting a brawl out here like a hooligan. Now off with all of you," She said as she made a shooing motion with her hands.

Once Harry and his friends were away from Ron they started to talk amongst themselves, "That weasel is asking to get killed isn't he?"

"Maybe…I actually thought he would be different when he got back… Guess I was wrong," Harry sighed.

"Why's that?"

"Evan had to go back into town after the Raid to keep up appearances and all as Orion… he spent the night at their house after going back in time to when the Raid was taking place," Draco explained.

"Yeah, and while I was there he seemed glad and all to see Orion, then again… when Evan was mentioned by Granger he seemed to grow… I don't know distant and whinier than usual."

"Man I don't know why he keeps on targeting you, you haven't done anything to warrant his abuse," Pansy whined, "He's being more of a bully to you now then he was the rest of us."

"I see it this way Pansy, at least he's focused on me and not on you lot anymore," Harry sighed.

"True… but it's still… gah I wish we could do something about him already," Pansy pouted.

"In due time Pansy, in due time," Harry said as his eyes glinted slightly.

The group looked at each other and Draco only smirked and shrugged, "This past Holiday changed Evan, so expect to see… a not so nice Evan anymore."

The rest of the group just grinned widely at one another before catching up with Harry who'd stopped to wait on them near the carriage the Thestral would be pulling along towards the castle. Luna joined them on the ride and had a wonderful conversation with Draco, who was for once keeping his word of being open-minded. She had the blond practically asking her several questions about the off the wall creatures she knew about.

When the ride had ended and everyone had made it into the great hall, they found themselves sitting down to a welcome back feast that Dumbledore no doubt had prepared. What caught Harry's eyes however was that Dumbledore seemed to be looking over at the Gryffindor table in silent thought. Harry looked over to take not that Ron was looking at the headmaster and Harry figured the headmaster was reading his mind about what Ron knew, since from what he heard he hadn't been back to the Weasley house since the attack on Azkaban.

Probably trying to convince, fudge that it was Voldemort that had attacked Azkaban, though Voldemort had not set off his mark into the sky so he had no proof of that fact. Harry smirked and looked down the Gryffindor table, and it was then that he realized Hermione, and Neville sat away from Ron, and Ron seemed to gain a few posse members. Seamus being one that Harry knew amongst the small group. The golden trio was no more, since Harry was _'missing'_ and Hermione was no longer on speaking terms with Ron, Harry knew this development would greatly worry Dumbledore. In short this would mean a lot of trouble was heading their way, and Harry had a bad feeling it would all happen soon.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

The rest of the day went by slowly, so slowly in fact that Harry was sure his brains liquefied at some point with his boredom. Runes seemed to be the only thing that had kept his attention and the rest of his classes were looking back over the material they'd been doing before the Holiday break. He felt so bored and out of it that he almost forgot he had detention that day, and barely made it within Snape's class room door before the man could do anything about it. He had a feeling though that the man wouldn't do anything.

It was strange, but even though the man didn't know he was Orion and Harry within Evan it just felt odd to be treated like a true Slytherin when he was Evan Spring. Ron however wasn't so fortunate and he came in through the door behind Harry ten minutes later, and as always Ron started to whine and make excuses. Such as Dumbledore wanting to speak with him about something and that it had caused him to be late to the class room.

"You Ronald will be creating a few potions and Mr. Spring here will be arranging ingredients on the shelf in the cupboard."

"Why does he get the easy job?" Ron groaned.

"It's not easy you idiot, you don't even know half the ingredients in that thing," Harry said glaring at Ron.

"I do to you prat, just because you think your smart doesn't mean I'm not too," Ron growled and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, for rude behavior," And Ron's mouth dropped before he pointed a finger at Harry.

"B-but he started it!"

"You will do as instructed and by the time I get back I expect everything to be in shape and not a giant mess… now get to work," Snape said before sweeping from the room like the bat he was.

Ron grumbled, but otherwise kept quiet through the ordeal. Harry went to the cabinet and started to sort through the ingredients left out for him to sort through and sighed when he saw there were a few he did not know. Even with his self-taught knowledge of what, what ingredient does what in which potion and he found that this was going to be a tedious sort of thing to do. It was easier for him to complete most of it, but the ones he knew not of he had to look up in one of Professor Snape's books that he had left out for him in case he didn't know what the ingredient was.

It was during his search on a small curled nail that he heard Ron speak up, "Hey spring I need an ingredient called… worm-wart."

Harry sighed and sifted through the ingredients to find the worm-wart. When he found the round almost fleshy looking ingredient he walked over to Ron and held his hand out for the boy to take it. What he got instead was a potion to the face and he blinked owlishly at Ron.

"What the blood hell was that for?"

Ron only smirked, "I found the perfect thing to reveal your sorry arse. Good thing Snape had a potion to do so set out for me today."

Harry's eyes went wide, before a searing pain ran through his body and he crumpled to the floor. He remembered this pain it was similar to the one he had experienced at the Dursleys'. The day his life had changed. Harry was curled up so tight he was sure his whole body would snap with the force of the pain going through him. He had tried to contain his screams, but his mouth didn't want to obey the pain was just that intense. During his screaming he thought he hear voices, and not just one. A hand was on his shoulder and shaking him lightly as more hands tried to pull him from his curled position. They were unsuccessful in doing so and just when Harry thought he was about to die his mind gave into the pain and he passed out.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

Ron had a huge smile of triumph on his features as he looked down on the page before him. It was the perfect potion to use and he couldn't have planned it all out better himself. He read over the contents one more time and looked to, Spring who was flipping through a book for an ingredient in his hand. He looked back down at the page before him the contents telling him that the potion he was to create was to reveal the hidden beast within. He practically laughed inside with dark glee at finally showing everyone just who Evan Spring truly was. He swiftly started to create the potion exactly as how it was described in the book before him.

"Hey spring I need an ingredient called… worm-wart," He grinned widely as, Spring looked for the ingredient he'd asked for, though it wasn't anything he really needed for the potion at all.

Ron didn't realize what the added affects would be if Evan got doused in the potion when he still, not only had, the worm-wart in one hand, but also the curled small claw like ingredient in his other hand. Evan hadn't set the thing down, because he didn't want to lose track of it. Now Evan stood before him dripping wet from the cauldron filled potion. Both ruined ingredients still in his hands as he blinked owlishly at Ron.

"What the blood hell was that for?"

Ron smirked, "I found the perfect thing to reveal your sorry arse. Good thing Snape had a potion to do so set out for me today."

However what happened next both surprised Ron and horrified him. Spring went down like a crumpled bag of bones and curled tight as his screams pierced his ears with a force Ron never knew he could ever hear from a person. He'd read stuff about the unforgivable curses and the one that came close to this kind of reaction was the cruciatus curse, but even then the details didn't make it sound as bad as what even Spring was going through. It was during these screams of pain that not only did Snape reappear, but also Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn had appeared looking quite alert and wands drawn ready to fight if need be.

What they found however made them blink in confusion. Evan was on the floor not far from Ron who was looking down at him in horror. A cauldron was on the table on its side, void of its contents and Snape's eyes widened. He looked at the book before him and found even more confusion. It was just a revealing potion, it shouldn't have caused the boy any pain, but it was. McGonagall and Slughorn where trying to coax the boy out of his curled position to see him more clearly, speaking in tones they hoped he would hear. It seemed unsuccessful though, and Ron found Snape turning to him and asking him about the potion and what had happened when suddenly all went silent.

Two gasps were heard and Ron looked down at where they were crouched. On the floor in between them was no longer a boy of fourteen, but a smaller almost serpentine like dragon. It reminded Ron of those muggle stories his father had brought home once from his study of what muggle teens liked. It looked like this creature had jumped from the pages of that book. It was mostly of Chinese and Japanese Origin, but seemed to look different then he recalled.

A long serpentine body about the size of a full grown adult Anaconda, but with paws instead of talons like a lizard would have. Scales lined from the back of its nose like an upside down triangle, with the tip cut off. At the base of the triangle mass of scales was a more diamond shaped set of scales, to reach over the top of its head. In the middle of this mass was a large tuff of fur that served to look something akin to hair a young lion would have before growing its mane.

The scales continued from the other end of the diamond shape mass of scaled in a thick line to its shoulders, where the scales branched out to line over the top of them before fading into black fur. The line continuing down its spine did the same thing at its hind legs as it had with the shoulders, before the line once again continued down the length of the tail, where a large portion of the tip was covered in nothing but luminescent scales.

The scaled were of an iridescent Obsidian color, greatly able to be told from what was scales and what was fur. At the tip of the tail was a spade like shaped tip, and the dragons ears were long and pointed. The shape of the dragon's face was more feline like and solemn since Evan had passed out around the same time his body took on this shape. Upon his back between his shoulder blades, were a small set of wings.

What no one took notice too was that Evan's collar seemed to change to his size and was snuggly strapped around the dragon's neck. The potion having not affected the overly powerful accessory, but had caused the trinket to be unable to make a human glamour for the serpentine dragon. Leaving his sorry state to be seen by anyone and everyone.

Ron's eyes were wide in shock since he hadn't expected the potion to turn Evan into a dragon. Snape took his arm roughly causing him to look up at the very angry looking potions master, "Mr. Weasley was this, the potion you brewed?" He held the book up to his face and he nodded, "Then pray tell, how did this happen to mister Evan?"

"I don't know, I just wanted to show everyone that he was a phony and the potion would help me prove it."

Snape was about to shout at him when McGonagall snatched his attention to the ruined ingredients that were no longer clenched in human hands. A broken small claw and a smashed worm-wart, layed pathetically on the floor, where Evan's hands had once been, and Snape paled considerably.

"He was holding ingredients?" He slowly turned back towards Ron and he swallowed thickly knowing he was going to be lectured, "You never toss a potion on someone when they are holding ingredients especially when they are holding the Rubian Curl Claw and the Worm-wart together."

Ron looked puzzled, "Why?"

"Because the effects the two together can have on a person are often strengthen a potion or alter it so much that finding a cure for the potion will take a long time to do. Even for someone like myself, Evan may not gain his true body back for years, and who knows what kind of mental state he will have when he wakes up. Rubian Curl claw his often used to enhance a potion or alter it depending on what ingredients are within the mix. Worm-wart is also used for altering a potion, but can also be used in potions to heighten certain aspects of a potion and considering you used a revealing potion that had quite a few ingredients in it to react negatively with the Worm-wart and the Rubian Curl Claw."

"What?" He squeaked.

"In blood lines it has been discovered that families have more than human blood in them, but creature as well. I trust you have read some of Orion Black's discovery works haven't you?" Ron shook his head no but his eyes did widen, "That potion coupled with the ingredients Evan was holding could in fact have reverted, him to a bloodline long forgotten. It is possible it will be near to impossible to revert, him back," He growled at Ron as he flinched back.

"What shall we do then Severus, I'm sure Mr. Weasley did not intend for this to happen?"

"We must tell the headmaster about this, it is the only thing we can do."

Ron felt himself wilt at those words and looked down at the floor in gloom. He hadn't wanted this to happen, all he wanted was to show how much of a phony he was and that was it. Now he'd gone and done something else to get his arse in trouble and he knew he was going to get one hell of a scolding from his mom when she caught wind of this.

**{A Shadowed Life}**

"Are you sure Severus?"

Harry heard someone ask from close by. His body hurt and his head felt like someone had taken his head and slammed it against a wall a few times. His body felt like a few volts of electricity had gone through him and he felt like his skin colder than he was used too. So he curled himself up into a tight ball. Something seemed off though and he snuffled a little when something furry brushed up against his nose.

"Yes, headmaster… we should be glad that Mr. Spring isn't considered an adult in dragon years yet. Or we would have a much bigger problem than we do now. As it is now I will have to work hard on finding a cure for him," Severus sighed.

"Are you sure you didn't see Evan Spring at the place?"

"I'm certain he was not."

"What about Orion Black?"

"I cannot say… from what I could tell the young man wasn't there at all and the one to take down the wards was the dark lord himself."

"It is good that neither of them are in his possession yet. If we can keep them out of his reach then it will all be for the better," Dumbledore said softly in a hushed tone, unaware their charge was awake at the moment and intently listening even if he was curious as to what was fuzzily pressed against his nose.

"It would be unfortunate if Mister Evan came into his snare, knowing that he has the blood of dragons in his veins would put the light in a major disadvantage," Snape said trying to play it all off and the man knew very well both Orion and Evan were of the Dark Lord's army.

Though, neither Evan, nor Orion had the dark mark, so they could keep up appearances and both had their own ways of keeping in contact with their lord. Harry listened to them on what the old fool wanted the Dark Lord to know about. Things he deemed safe to tell the man, but if Snape didn't tell him about his situation by the time he was returned to normal he would definitely do so himself. When the topic trailed off to more fatherly old man like topics Harry found himself unable to ignore the fur pressed against his nose any longer.

He slowly opened his eyes blearily, which was harder then he thought, because the light in the room already hurt his pounding head more than it should. He groaned lightly, but it sounded off to his ears since it came out more like a hissing growl, more than a groan. What greeted his eyes when he opened them was black fur, with scales at the top. He followed the length of it and realized that what he was staring at was himself.

His body jerked upwards in reaction to his thoughts, as shock registered in his body. He looked down to note he had paws and his body held a serpentine quality to it. Harry felt like he was on the verge of hyperventilating when he heard someone approach him. His head jerked up his eyes wide as he looked up at Snape and Dumbledore. The one who'd approached him was none other than the old fool.

"Evan?" Harry went to answer but the only thing that came forth was a hissing growl, heaving a sigh he nodded.

"It seems he's retained his more human mind. That is a good sign," Snape drawled out.

"Yes, it seems so," Dumbledore said slowly yet thoughtfully.

Harry looked to Snape silently watching the man, "What should we do?"

"Well until you can create a potion to revert him back to his true form then there isn't much we can do. We should send for Draco, since he's the boy's brother."

Snape nodded before looking to Harry and swept out the door with nothing else said. He really didn't want the man to go, and his eyes watched him as he vanished from view. Dumbledore walked closer and Harry looked up at the man. His eyes narrowed and weary of him, not really trusting him, in the least and let a warning growl that he was not at all liking the closeness of the man. Dumbledore paused where he was and gave Harry a gentle smile.

"All is well Evan, no one will harm you. I just wanted to show you what you look like for I am sure you are curious," Harry's ears perked up at the sound of that.

Dumbledore chuckled slightly, causing Harry to flatten his ears back. Dumbledore brought forth a mirror to situated, it in front of him, and Harry's eyes widened in shock. His eyes didn't have the usual colors he was used to seeing on himself, not green, not blue, and definitely not steel grey. They were a red color lighter than the eyes he was used to seeing on Tom. The rest of his body made him feel like he'd jumped out of a muggle fairy tale, kind of like the luck dragon from _'The Never Ending Story,'_ but without the dog look to him.

"Severus believes that because you are not considered an adult in dragon years that your current form is one of what most would call a hatchling dragon. In other words the form you would have been would be too large to fit even within this room let alone the one you'd been in at the time," Dumbledore reached for Harry and Harry jerked back away from the touch, "I'm sorry my boy, I seem to have this urge to touch your fur to see how soft it is, as well as to see how smooth your scales are."

This wanting to touch Harry thing made went on for a while and Harry spent most of his time away from the old fool, just to keep him from touching him. By the time Snape and Draco made it to the office, Dumbledore had finally cornered him and held him firmly as he ran fingers along his fur and scales. He also had the nerve to touch his wings and Harry wished for someone to just up and kill him already.

When he looked over to Draco with a sour glower Draco had to keep from laughing. He was sure Snape hadn't told him a damn thing, and Harry found he was only going to place the blame on Dumbledore. When the man let him go finally he walked to the edge of the man's desk and sat curled up as far away as he could from the old fool.

"Evan was turned into a dragon?" Draco questioned humor still in his eyes as he looked to his brother.

"Yes, Mister Weasley thought it would be a wonderful idea to splash a revealing potion on him while he held ingredients that would cause said potion to react negatively," Snape answered his god son.

"Who'd bright idea was to give them detention together anyways?"

Snape snorted, "McGonagall."

"And whose was it to place Weasley in charge of a potion?" He said looking to Snape who was now messaging his temples.

"Regrettably it was myself, and it will not be happening a second time," Snape glared at Draco, who only smirked at him before turning to Harry who looked about ready to kill someone if Dumbledore did not stop touching him.

Even from where he was the old man kept reaching towards him to pet him. To save him from having the man touching him again, Draco scooped up the young dragon. Once in Draco's grasp Harry bit his hand and Draco flinched.

"Ouch…don't bite Evan it's not my fault this is happening," He said as he glared at Harry whose ears flattened against his head before licking at the wound lightly, which only served to make Draco to laugh because it tickled.

"Mister Malfoy, I trust you will inform your parents of recent developments?"

"Of course headmaster, mother and father will be worried about his situation though, and may request he return home as soon as possible."

"If such thing is to occur I will have to ask them that he stay here to keep him safe and from causing any harm to others."

Draco looked at the man with narrowed eyes and Harry felt the hands holding the bulk of his body tighten their grip slightly, "They will not agree to that. I am sure you are having Professor Snape working on the potion so he will be able to find him at the manor to give him the antidote to his current form."

Dumbledore just raised his hands as though he was trying to placate Draco, and possibly Harry since his face took on the glower he'd been adopting for a while since the petting incident. A hiss left his mouth as well showing Harry's displeasure. He really didn't want to be stuck here with this man seemed to be at all times. It was something he would loath to have happen when he had a perfectly good home to go back too. A place he actually felt safe in, and had a family he could trust and knew loved him. Once upon a time Hogwarts had been a home to him, now it seemed more like a prison.

"It is alright Draco, I just wish to keep him somewhere safe," He placated once more.

"He'll be safe at home," Draco said in a tone that made it clear that this was not up for negotiation, "Thank you headmaster I must be going."

Harry climbed up and draped his body around Draco's neck like Osiris did when he was around his neck. It was funny since his back legs rested on Draco's left shoulder while is front one's rested on his right shoulder. His tail dangling down the front of Draco's body, while his head stayed raised up and his ear alert. Before they left the room however Harry sneezed hard and a small jet of fire slipped past his lips and caught the closest thing on fire, which happened to be the wood and glass cabinet that Draco had been walking by.

Draco apologized to Dumbledore and Snape before they shooed him away and Dumbledore doused the fire in water, before using a spell to vanish the water away. Harry had the decency to look sheepish as though he was truly sorry that he had caught something on fire by accident. In all reality Harry wasn't the least bit sorry about it, but what Dumbledore said earlier was weighing heavily on his thoughts. As Draco walked out of the office however Harry had a feeling that Dumbledore's wish to keep him at the school just might be fulfilled.

_**Next Chapter**__- Electrifying Inferno_

_Rubian Curl Claw- A creature I came up with and is related to a dragon that is rare and hard to find. (Rubian Curl Claw Dragon Created by me… will sketch it out later for reference.)_

_Worm-wart- Comes from a very large worm that is as big as a basilisk. This worm eats meat and has been known to wipe out a whole town on its own. These worms have been hunted to near extinction and are being maintained at a facility created to keep them from harming others. (Will draw it out at a later date for reference.)_

**If you are all wondering about what exactly Harry's dragon form looks like I will have the drawing up after my Lighting, Textures, and Shadows class tomorrow. The picture for the link will be posted sometime around 4 or 5 o'clock eastern time, in the U.S. I will also be adding a link of what Harry's dragon form would have been if it wasn't for the age he has yet to reach.**

_**Well everyone that is it for this chapter. Looking forward to your R&R's. See you all soon!**_


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